


The Brothers Addams

by JayColin



Category: Addams Family - All Media Types, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Albus Dumbledore Bashing, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Ilvermorny, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Amputation, Asexual Character, Background Het, Blood Adoption (Harry Potter), Boy-Who-Lived Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived Neville Longbottom, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Child Abuse, Conjoined Twins, F/F, F/M, Fivesome - M/M/M/M/M, Foursome - M/M/M/M, Harry Potter Goes to a Different School, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Language, M/M, Male Slash, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Mpreg, Multi, Original Character(s), Slash, Slow Burn, Threesome - F/M/M, Threesome - M/M/M, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-17 20:33:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 38,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28731255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayColin/pseuds/JayColin
Summary: A month after the tragic events of 31 October 1981, Minerva McGonagall decides to pay a visit to Privet Drive and check on James’ and Lily’s sons… natural son Harrick and blood-adopted son Neville. She’s horrified at what she finds and resolves to place the boys with Lily’s aunt. She and her family are a bit mysterious and spooky, but they at least have two things the Dursleys don’t: love for family and respect for all things magical.
Relationships: Gomez Addams/Morticia Addams, Harry Potter/Blaise Zabini, Harry Potter/OMC/Tom Riddle/Blaise Zabini, Harry Potter/Original Male Character(s), Harry Potter/Tom Riddle, Neville Longbottom/OMC/Tom Riddle/Theodore Nott, Neville Longbottom/Original Male Character(s), Neville Longbottom/Theodore Nott, Neville Longbottom/Tom Riddle
Comments: 92
Kudos: 266





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: This chapter contains a scene depicting child abuse and involuntary and unnecessary amputation.

The Brothers Addams  
By J.C. Vascardi

-o-0-o-

Chapter One

-o-0-o-

**_ December 1, 1981… _ **

**_“They’re the worst sort of muggles you could possibly imagine.”_ **

Those words echoed through her head, as Minerva McGonagall awoke in her quarters at Hogwarts. She’d been having the same dream for a month now, ever since the dreadful early morning of the First of November when she’d watched as Dumbledore placed the basket containing the oh-so-precious bundle on the doorstep.

To make it easier to carry them both in the sling he’d fashioned, Hagrid had tightly swaddled Harrick Potter in the same blanket as his blood-adopted brother Neville Potter, formerly Longbottom. Minerva was about to transfigure another blanket so that they could each have their own, but Albus had nixed the idea.

“It’s better this way, Minerva,” he’d said. “It is, after all, only two in the morning. Their aunt and uncle are most likely still sound asleep. It could be a few hours before they’re found, at least sharing a blanket, they can also share body heat.”

Minerva was about to say that that’s what Warming Charms were for, but Hagrid and Albus were already making their way down the front walk, as Albus lifted his deluminator and began restoring the light to the surrounding street lamps, even as a thick fog began rolling in.

Bending down, Minerva had looked at the two boys sadly and placed a quick kiss on both their foreheads, before she moved down the walk into the fog.

Ever since that night, one month ago, she’d been haunted by how they had just left the boys there. It was November for Merlin’s sake. Albus had said himself that it could be a few hours before they were found. Even wrapped tightly in a blanket and sharing body heat it was still far too cold.

And what exactly awaited them when they were found? Minerva had spent several uncomfortable hours as a cat watching the Dursleys and she hadn’t liked what she saw. Not even a little bit. But Albus wouldn’t hear her arguments on that night or since.

She could see his point, that they were better off growing up away from the fame they’d both likely share due to being the first two people known to survive the Killing Curse. Not to mention their apparent defeat of Voldemort. If exposed to that before they were ready to deal with it, she could see how it might go to their heads and harm them in the long run.

It was in the last month that Minerva had found out why Albus had been so insistent about leaving the boys with Petunia Dursley née Evans. Apparently, he’d helped Lily cast some powerful spells that would give her sons protection if she was ever forced to sacrifice herself to protect them. The protection would only remain if they could call the home of Lily’s blood home.

“Does Lily have any other family?” Minerva found herself wondering, as she got dressed. “I can’t believe she intended to leave Harrick and Neville with Petunia of all people. Surely there must be someone else?”

Since it was Sunday and there were no classes, she decided to look into that. There were other things she should probably be doing as there was a lot of work for the Deputy Headmistress and Head of Gryffindor House in the lead-up to the Winter Break. But something in her gut told her that this was more important.

-o-0-o-

An hour later, Minerva found herself in Godric’s Hollow. She’d just left the cemetery where she placed a decorated holiday wreath on the grave of James and Lily Potter. Steeling herself, she crossed the small village to the Potter Cottage and let herself in, before she began her search.

After another hour or so, she came across an old bible and knowing that people sometimes recorded their family trees in them, she opened it to see if that was the case. She smiled when she saw that it was.

“There are Petunia and Lily,” Minerva said as she tapped their names with her finger, before moving up to where their parents were listed. “Hmm, Charles Evans and Ophelia Evans née Frump.”

It occurred to her then that she’d never actually known Lily’s mother’s maiden name. As she looked at the entries it occurred to her that Charles and Ophelia had been quite young when they got married and had Petunia in 1958. They were both born in 1943, only a few months apart, meaning that they were only 15 when they got married and had Petunia and 17 when Lily was born.

Something else Minerva hadn’t known was that Petunia and Lily had several younger siblings. Five of them in all, although they all died before Lily started Hogwarts. Reading the entries she found:

> **_Charles Evans Jr., born 1962, died 1962, miscarriage_  
>  _Rose Evans, born 1963, died 1963, stillborn_  
>  _Zinnia Evans, born 1965, died 1966, SIDS_  
>  _Zayne Evans, born 1965, died 1965, stillborn_  
>  _Daisy Evans, born 1967, died 1969, leukemia_ **

There were no other children listed, although Minerva could certainly understand why Charles and Ophelia clearly decided not to have any more children. Losing five children in seven years had surely been very painful and Minerva could definitely see why they probably decided to just be happy with the two children they had and not put themselves through the pain of trying again.

Of course, they were both dead only ten years later, killed in an automobile accident in 1979, at the ages of 36 and 35, as the accident had happened after Charles’s birthday but before Ophelia’s.

Turning the page, Minerva found out that Ophelia’s parents were named Harlan and Hester Frump… they were apparently third cousins and thus Hester didn’t need to change her name when they married. Harlan died in 1980, although there was no date of death listed for Hester.

Minerva also noted that they had another daughter listed, named Morticia, who married Gomez Addams in 1975. The couple had three children, Wednesday, born 1977, Pugsley, born 1979, and Pubert, born 1981.

 ** _‘Strange names, but then again, I’ve seen stranger names in some of the pureblood families,’_** Minerva thought.

Having found what she came for, Minerva shrunk the family bible, along with a few photo albums she found in the house and set off. Next stop, Surrey, to ensure that Harrick and Neville were being treated properly.

-o-0-o-

Walking up the front walk to Number Four Privet Drive, Minerva couldn’t help but shiver as a chill passed over her. Being the First of December it was cold, but something told her the chill had nothing to do with the weather.

Taking a deep breath, she lifted her fist and knocked.

A moment later, the door opened barely an inch, as a blonde-haired woman said, “Whatever you’re selling, I’m not interested.”

“I’m not selling anything, Mrs. Dursley,” Minerva said crisply, as she placed her hand on the door and pushed it open wider, despite the resistance from Petunia. “I’m Professor Minerva McGonagall. Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts and I’m here to check on Neville and Harrick.”

Petunia visibly paled as she said, “They’re not home.”

“Really?”

“My husband took them shopping.”

“I see,” Minerva said, not believing a word. “Well, then you won’t mind if I come in and wait.”

Before Petunia could say a word, Minerva had her wand out and only inches away from Petunia’s chin, causing her to blanch even more. Whatever resistance she’d been giving to try and keep the door closed gave way, allowing Minerva to enter the house.

As she entered the front hall, she heard Petunia close the door and after a moment, she said, “They’re not going to be back for several hours.”

Turning on her heel and pointing her wand at Petunia, Minerva said, “I don’t believe you, Petunia. Just from your expression, I can tell that you’re lying, so why don’t you save us both some time and just tell me where they are?”

When Petunia didn’t say anything, Minerva said, “Fine, we’ll do this the hard way then. **_Stupefy! Incarcerous!_** ”

As the stunned and bound Petunia Dursley collapsed against the front door, Minerva cast a spell to locate Neville and Harrick. Her wand spun in the palm of her hand for a moment before pointing at the kitchen doorway. Moving through it, her wand spun again so that it was pointing at a closed door. Pulling it open, Minerva realized that it was the basement door.

The basement that had apparently been soundproof with the door closed, for what she heard next sent a shiver down her spine.

“You stupid little freaks! Stop crying!” a man’s voice screamed, over the sound of two wailing babies.

Minerva immediately moved down the stairs, but before she was even halfway down she jumped as she heard what sounded like a meat cleaver hitting a butcher block countertop.

“Stupid freaks, die! Die! DIE!!”

Running down the rest of the stairs she turned the corner just in time to see a bulging walrus of a man drop something into a bowl to his right. She had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach because it almost looked like, no, it couldn’t be. It had almost looked like… no…

“Dursley, stop!” Minerva screamed as she held her wand at the man, making him freeze in place at the unexpected interruption.

As Minerva came closer she saw the two bawling sixteen-month-old forms of Neville and Harrick lying next to each other on a wooden table and she gasped as she saw that Neville was missing his left leg just below the knee and Harrick was missing his right.

Realizing that she had seen what she thought she’d seen, Minerva fought the urge to throw up, as she heard the sizzling sound from the bowl and said, “You monster! **_Avada Kedavra!_** ”

Using her wand to rip off two pieces of her own skirt, she quickly moved over and wrapped the bleeding stubs of Neville and Harrick’s legs, as she realized that the bowl was full of acid and it had been their little legs that she’d seen Vernon drop into it. And the sizzling was the result of the acid burning away the flesh and bone.

Unfortunately, for the two bleeding boys, healing magic was not Minerva’s particular sphere of expertise.

“ ** _Expecto Patronum!_** ” Minerva said, as her silvery cat Patronus appeared and she said, “I need you to deliver a message to Poppy Pomfrey, Matron of Hogwarts.”

The cat nodded, as Minerva said, “Poppy, come to Number 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. Use the back door, break it down if you must. Medical emergency. Hurry! And bring blood replenisher!”

Spying some towels in a basket near the washing machine, Minerva summoned them, cast a quick-drying charm on them, followed by an extra-strong cleaning charm before wrapping the boys' legs in them and applying as much pressure as she could to the bleeding stubs to hopefully stop the bleeding.

The boys were both wailing and flailing their arms around, although Minerva did note that they seemed to quiet down a little bit when their hands touched.

What seemed like hours later, but was in actual fact only ten minutes, there was a loud crack from upstairs, as a voice called out, “Minerva?!”

“Poppy, I’m in the basement! Hurry!”

Poppy came running down the stairs a moment later, as Minerva said, “Poppy, hurry, it’s Neville and Harrick Potter. Their fucking walrus of an uncle chopped their legs off and dropped them in acid!”

Poppy gasped as she came over, wand already in her hand, as she cast a Diagnostic Charm, followed by a Blood Staunching Charm in quick succession.

Spying the fat man lying on the floor, a stunned expression on his face, Poppy, even as she set to work, asked, “The uncle?”

“Vernon Dursley,” Minerva said. “I came down just as he, just as he… I used the Killing Curse on him.”

“Good!” Poppy exclaimed. “What kind of sick monster could do this to a pair of defenseless toddlers? A quick death was too good for him!”

Minerva nodded but remained silent as she watched Poppy work. She didn’t want to distract the matron from her task. A few tense minutes later, Poppy sighed, as she uncorked a bottle of Blood Replenishing Potion and put a few drops in each boys’ mouth since, at their current age and size, they didn’t need as much as a full-grown adult.

“They’ll live,” Poppy said. “Unfortunately, I can’t do anything for their missing legs.”

“What about Skele-Gro?”

Shaking her head, Poppy said, “That regrows bones, not skin, muscles, tendons, nerves… there are no spells for that. If that fucking arse hadn’t dropped them in acid, I might have been able to save and reattach them, but as it is, I’m afraid Neville and Harrick will both have to get used to having one of their legs amputated.”

Minerva sniffed and nodded, as she fought back tears. “Was I imagining things or does touching each other seem to calm them down?”

“You weren’t imagining it. It came up in the diagnostic results: it appears that they’re magically bound to one another. I’m afraid that the spell is far too complicated to remove safely.”

“Bound how?”

“Basically the same as a pair of twins born with the exceedingly rare magical disease known as Van Praternik’s Syndrome… they have to maintain constant skin-on-skin contact with one another or suffer debilitating levels of pain, on par with or possibly even worse than the Cruciatus.”

“I’ve never heard of it.”

Shaking her head, Poppy added, “Well, as I said, the disease is exceedingly rare. In fact, there are only two documented sets of twins in the entire world who are known to have it. One set in America and the other in New Zealand.”

“I assume that means that there is no cure?”

Nodding, Poppy answered, “You’re correct. So, I guess there’s three sets now, although I’ve never heard of it affecting children who were not born as twins. My best guess though is that it has to do with their scars… they’re curse scars, presumably left behind after You-Know-Who tried to kill them last month.”

Minerva nodded before she took a deep breath and grabbing a blanket from the laundry basket, cleaning and drying it, she began to wrap the two boys up in it. “Go back to Hogwarts and tell Elphinstone not to expect me for dinner. I’m taking the boys to America.”

“America? Why there?”

“I’m certainly not leaving them here with their aunt, Petunia Dursley. Not when it was her husband that did this. Lily has an aunt in America and possibly a grandmother as well… there was no death date listed for her in Lily’s family bible. After Petunia, they’re now Neville and Harrick’s closest next of kin.”

Poppy nodded, as she just watched Minerva for a moment, as she swaddled the two boys together. Minerva couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps Hagrid had noted the same thing and that’s why he’d wrapped them up in the same blanket as he had.

As she finished, Minerva said, “And whatever you do, Poppy, don’t under any circumstances tell Albus what happened here or where I’m taking the boys. He’s the one who placed them here. I knew that Lily hated her sister and she wouldn’t have wanted her sons here, but Albus refused to listen to my objections.”

Picking the boys up in her arms and holding them tightly, she quickly left the room and headed back upstairs, with Poppy following her. Moving into the front hall, leveling her wand at Petunia, who was still tied up, although the stunner had worn off.

She whimpered upon seeing the wand pointed at her, especially when Poppy followed Minerva’s example and did the same.

“Your husband is dead, Petunia,” Minerva said. “Do you know what he was doing downstairs?”

“No, but I’m sure the little brats deserved it,” Petunia answered. “They wouldn’t stop crying.”

“Deserved it? DESERVED IT?” Poppy roared. “Your sick fucker of a husband made them both amputees! No child deserves to have a perfectly good leg chopped off their body for no reason. Especially not because they were crying. News flash, babies cry! They can’t talk or write yet so how else are they going to tell you they need something?!”

Petunia paled at this, as Minerva asked, her voice low and very angry, “Can you even imagine Lily’s reaction? Especially if she thought you supported the permanent mutilation of her sons?”

Petunia was already looking pretty pale from having two wands pointed at her and hearing what Vernon had done, but she apparently could imagine her little sister’s reaction and it was clear that she was horrified at what that undoubtedly would have been.

“Poppy, how are you at Memory Charms?”

“Competent. Why?”

“I think it would be best for Petunia to forget that Neville and Harrick were ever here. Or that we were for that matter.”

Nodding, Poppy said, “Okay, I can do that. The fact that she’s a muggle makes it easier.”

“Can you make her think Vernon died of a heart attack?”

“Yes,” Poppy said.

“Very well, take care of that when I leave, then untie her and go back to Hogwarts,” Minerva said before she turned back to Petunia and said, “Now, Petunia… you have an aunt. One Morticia Addams. I know from a note in one of Lily’s photo albums that she lives in America, but where exactly?”

Petunia shivered at the name, but with the wands pointed at her, she figured it was best to answer the question, even though discussing her aunt was something she normally avoided even more than she avoided talking about Lily. “They have several houses, but the main one is on the outskirts of Fall River, Massachusetts. Number 1313 Cemetery Lane.”

“Very well,” Minerva said. “I’ll be taking Neville and Harrick to live with her and you’ll probably never see them again. Not that it matters since once Poppy is done with you, you won’t even remember that they were ever here.”

Minerva didn’t wait for a response, as she simply nodded to Poppy before she turned and walked out of the house.

-o-0-o-

After leaving Privet Drive, Minerva apparated directly to the steps outside of Gringotts Wizarding Bank and headed inside. For the right price, she was confident that the goblins could get her an international portkey without asking questions. They really didn’t care to involve themselves with the affairs of witches and wizards, after all.

So if someone came to them and asked for an untraceable international portkey and they could afford to pay, well, they certainly weren’t going to say no. Gold was gold, after all.

Arriving in Fall River, Massachusetts, Minerva, having gotten some galleons changed into dollars and cents, used a payphone to call a cab. When it arrived she told the driver to take her to 1313 Cemetery Lane. The driver looked at her for a moment as if he wanted to ask if she was sure that she wanted to go to that destination, but in the end, he shrugged and said nothing. A fare was a fare, who was he to complain?

About twenty minutes out of town, the cab turned onto Cemetery Lane and it wasn’t long before Minerva got her first glimpse of the Addams Mansion. Pulling up outside the gate, the driver said, “Sorry, lady but this is as far as I go. That gate has a mind of its own and I’m not risking my cab going through it.”

Minerva raised an eyebrow at that warning, but decided it wasn’t that far of a walk, so, she paid the driver and got out of the car, clutching the two toddlers a bit closer to her. They were both sleeping peacefully, having fallen asleep while they were still at Gringotts.

Almost as soon as she’d gotten out and paid the fare, the cab pulled away as if the driver wanted to get as far away from this house as he possibly could. Minerva wondered what that was about, but decided that she’d come this far and Morticia or her mother were pretty much the last hope of keeping Lily’s protections working.

Stepping forward towards the gate, it swung open by itself to admit Minerva and the boys. She decided not to dwell on that too much as she walked up to the old and weathered looking Second Empire style mansion. Reaching the front door, she also opted not to question the blackened and withered wreath hanging on the door, as she raised her hand and knocked.

It took a couple of minutes, but soon the door opened to reveal a tall and imposing-looking man with pale greyish skin and sunken features which Minerva rather thought resembled what she imagined Frankenstein’s monster to look like.

The man grunted and then asked, “Yes?”

“Professor Minerva McGonagall to see Mr. and Mrs. Addams, please.”

“Come in,” the man said, as he opened the door wider and stood aside, as Minerva crossed the threshold and saw that the house was rather dreary and gloomy-looking inside. Expensively decorated, but also very eccentrically decorated.

“Follow me,” the man, who Minerva assumed was the butler said, after he closed the door and began walking.

Walking into a large living room a few moments later, Minerva tried to keep her face neutral as she took in some of the rather interesting choices of décor. Such as the boar’s head on one wall, or the swordfish head on another which had a man’s leg hanging out of its mouth. And that was to say nothing about the large and impressive collection of weapons hanging on the walls.

Sitting in the middle of the room was a pale woman with long black hair and wearing a very tight-looking black dress, one arm held out as a dark-haired man in a dark red suit with black stripes kissed his way up her arm.

The butler grunted, prompting the woman to look over and say, “Gomez, dear, we have a guest,” moments before Lurch said, “Professor Minerva McGonagall.”

The man, Gomez, stopped kissing the arm of who Minerva now recognized was Morticia from the photo she’d seen, as he said, “Thank you, Lurch. Be a good man and bring some tea, would you? Regular, and not mamma’s special brew.”

“Yes, Mr. Addams,” Lurch said in his deep voice before he turned and left the room.

“Welcome, professor,” Morticia said, as she gracefully stood up and Minerva could see that the dress was as she’d thought very tight and form-fitting. In fact, she was almost sure that Morticia was wearing a very tight corset under it. “Professor of what, may I ask?”

Since she’d seen no mechanical elements of any kind that could possibly explain how the gate had opened on its own and the lack of electric lights in the house, Minerva decided to take a chance that the Addams family was aware of the existence of magic. “Professor of Transfiguration and Deputy Headmistress at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry near Hogsmeade in Scotland.”

“Ah, splendid,” Gomez said with a smile, as he moved forward and held out his hand. It was as he got closer that he noticed that the bundle in Minerva’s arms was actually two toddlers. “And who are they?”

“Your wife’s grandnephews, Mr. Addams,” Minerva said, as Morticia came closer herself to look at the two boys. “Harrick and Neville Potter, natural-born and blood-adopted sons, respectively of the late James Potter and the late Lily Potter née Evans.”

Morticia gasped. “My niece Lily passed on? I hadn’t heard.”

“It was quite recently, I’m afraid,” Minerva said. “On Halloween night, in fact. Murdered by the Dark Lord…” Minerva hesitated for a moment, before she finished, “…Voldemort.”

Morticia came closer and looked down at the two boys in Minerva’s arms, after moving the blanket out of the way slightly to get a better look at their faces. After a moment, she nodded and said, “Yes, that’s definitely the Potter black hair and Lily’s green eyes. Gomez and I weren’t able to make it for James and Lily’s wedding, as we were away on our seventh honeymoon when the invitation came.”

“Yes, we didn’t see it until we returned home,” Gomez added, “by which time the wedding had already happened. Sent her a couple of old grimoires as a gift, however.”

“I knew from her last letter that she’d blood-adopted Neville and that she was taking him and Harrick and going into hiding with James,” Morticia said. “I felt certain they’d use the Fidelius though.”

“They did,” Minerva said. “Their secret keeper betrayed them, however. Voldemort found them, killed James and Lily, and then tried to kill Neville and Harrick as well… his Killing Curse backfired, however, and struck him instead, leaving the boys with those scars on their foreheads.”

“Quite handsome scars they are too,” Gomez said as he traced a finger over Harrick’s lightning bolt, before doing the same to Neville’s.

“So what brings you to this side of the pond, professor?” Morticia asked as the three of them sat down and Lurch came back in, carrying a tea tray, which he placed on the table next to Morticia’s chair, as she began to pour.

“One month ago, in the early morning hours of One November, Neville and Harrick were placed in the care of your niece Petunia and her husband. I had a bad feeling about it ever since and when I went to check to make sure they were okay, I got there just in time to see Petunia’s husband drop Neville’s left leg and Harrick’s right leg into a bowl of acid after he’d amputated them from just below their knees.”

Morticia paused at this and put a hand over her mouth to cover a gasp, as Gomez jumped to his feet. “That knave! I’ll kill him! Nobody treats an Addams relative like that and gets away with it.”

“He’s already dead,” Minerva said. “I was so incensed that I shot a Killing Curse at him.”

“Good show, professor,” Gomez said. “He deserved something far more painful, but I suppose the job is done, nonetheless.”

Minerva nodded. “I was rather more concerned with Neville and Harrick at the time and thought it best to kill Vernon quickly and concentrate on helping them before they bled out from where he’d just chopped their legs off with a meat cleaver.”

“Oh how delightfully dreadful,” Morticia nearly purred. “Still the man got what he deserved, maiming my poor Lily’s sons that way.”

Minerva raised an eyebrow at the use of the words delightfully dreadful but put it aside as she nodded and said, “I wasn’t about to leave them with Petunia, after what her husband did. I would have taken them in myself as my husband and I have always wanted children, but before she died, Lily used powerful magic which would protect Harrick, and thanks to the blood-adoption Neville, as well, from any of Voldemort’s followers who no doubt are seeking revenge. However, that magic only continues to work if Harrick and Neville can call home the home of their mother’s blood. So I was hoping that as their grandaunt and uncle…”

“Of course!” Gomez said immediately. “Any family of Morticia’s is always welcome here. And we already have three young children, so the boys will even have playmates.”

“Thank you,” Minerva said. She paused for a moment, before she said, “I hesitate to ask this, but I was wondering if perhaps you might consider blood-adopting them yourselves? I’m afraid that my boss at Hogwarts is probably not going to like them being so far away from home and will do everything he can to get them back to the UK. He’s a very powerful man as he’s not only Headmaster of Hogwarts, but Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards.”

Gomez tapped the side of his chin, as he said, “Hmm, yes, he could certainly muddy the waters if the boys stayed here with us just as their grandaunt and uncle… especially since I assume Petunia is still alive?”

“Yes, she is,” Minerva confirmed. “I let her live because she does have a young son of her own and she did seem horrified when I told her what her husband had done. However, if you were their blood-adoptive parents, they’d be Addamses, both legally and magically, and no court in the world could take them from you, no matter how much clout Albus can wield.”

Morticia looked at Gomez, who nodded, prompting her to say, “If it keeps the little darlings safe, then yes by all means. We’ll make the arrangements as soon as possible.”

Minerva smiled. “Good. One more thing you should know, according to a healer I trust, they were magically bound together through their scars when Voldemort tried to kill them. It apparently produces an effect similar to that of the rare magical illness known as Van Praternik’s Syndrome… they have to remain in constant skin-to-skin contact or suffer debilitating pain.”

“Well, that’s easy enough to deal with,” Gomez said. “We’ll have some clothes made for them to ensure it.”

-o-0-o-

To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have Ch1 of ‘The Brothers Addams’. I’ve had the idea of writing an HP/Addams Family crossover for a while now, but I kept postponing it as I tried to concentrate on other things. Recently, however, the Muses finally stopped taking no for an answer.
> 
> I’m uncertain at the moment how much of Neville’s and Harrick’s childhood growing up with the Addamses to include, although I will say this much: they won’t be going to Hogwarts. Living in America, I think it makes far more sense for them to attend Ilvermorny… my oh my is a certain headmaster going to be majorly butt hurt.


	2. Chapter 2

The Brothers Addams  
By J.C. Vascardi

-o-0-o-

Chapter Two

-o-0-o-

**_ December 11, 1981… _ **

In the little over a week since Minerva McGonagall’s visit to the Addams Mansion, Gomez and Morticia happily settled into life with the two new additions to their family. True to her word, Morticia set things in motion to perform a blood-adoption ritual as soon as possible, with help from Grandmama, Eudora Addams, and Granny, Hester Frump.

Hester, especially, was thrilled to have Harrick and Neville join the family, as she’d always favored Ophelia and was devastated when she passed away. She’d moved in with Morticia and her family at that point and made an effort to connect more with her remaining daughter and her children.

In the nearly three years since Ophelia’s death, she’d grown to love them as much as she’d loved Ophelia and she was very happy with life. Of course, to have her elder daughter’s grandsons around made her all the happier.

“Everything is ready, Morticia,” Grandmama said, as she stirred her cauldron one more time, after adding the final ingredient. “As soon as the moon rises we can begin.”

“Excellent,” Morticia said. “It won’t be long now.”

Grandmama nodded, as Morticia reached over and pulled on the noose hanging from the ceiling. A second later, the whole house seemed to shake as a loud gong sounded from somewhere within.

“You rang?” Lurch asked, seemingly appearing out of nowhere half-a-second later.

“Yes, Lurch,” Morticia said. “Gather the family. We congregate in the cemetery. For tonight, under the light of the full moon, Neville and Harrick will become blood Addamses.”

Lurch groaned in response, nodding his head, before turning and walking out of the room.

-o-0-o-

About half-an-hour later, Gomez and Morticia stood with their backs to the mausoleum where the former’s many-times great-grandfather, J.P. Addams, was buried. In life, J.P. had been a very successful and bloodthirsty pirate during the Golden Age of Piracy… as shown by the fact that the family still had more Spanish doubloons than they could possibly spend over two hundred years later.

A stone altar was positioned in front of them, on which laid Neville and Harrick who were currently moonclad. In other words, naked, with the light of the full moon shining down on them. A pair of braziers burned on either side of them, emitting a fair amount of heat, so even though it was only two weeks until Christmas, they were still comfortable despite their lack of clothing.

Gathered on the opposite side of the altar where the rest of the Addams family that lived in the Fall River house: Grandmama, who was holding two-year-old Pugsley, Granny, who held five-and-a-half-month-old Pubert, Uncle Fester, and finally Lurch, with four-year-old Wednesday perched on his shoulders so that she—and her headless doll Marie—could get a good view of the proceedings.

“We are gathered here tonight among our ancestors both distant and recent,” Gomez began, “to formally and magically add two new members to our prestigious and proud line.”

Morticia’s lips quirked into a half-smile as she said, “To be an Addams is to see the world in shades of gray and to embrace the shadows and the gloom.”

“Family comes first,” Gomez said. “And family comes last.”

“Thing, open Neville’s mouth, will you?” Morticia asked as it had been decided that Neville would go first since he was a day older than Harrick.

From his place on the altar between Neville’s and Harrick’s heads, Thing gave Morticia a thumbs up before using two of his fingers to push Neville’s lips apart. Neville himself was simply lying there sedately, eyes transfixed on Thing, a spark of wonderment visible in the flickering firelight.

Uncorking a vial, Morticia held it over Neville’s mouth with her left hand, as she ejected her wand—fifteen inches, with an ebony grip decorated with moonstones, and a shaft made from swamp mayhaw wood, with a rougarou hair as its core—from up her right sleeve.

Putting the tip of her wand over Neville’s heart, Morticia tipped the vial and let three drops fall into his mouth, as she incanted, in Latin, “Bind this child. In magic. In blood. Make him family. Now and forevermore."

“Now and forevermore,” all of the other Addamses capable of speech repeated, as Neville’s hair darkened a shade blacker than it had already been from his previous blood-adoption. His eyes stayed green, although they took on a more dulled jade luster than the bright emerald green they’d been.

As his skin lightened a shade and briefly glowed in the moonlight, the scar that was left behind by the amputation healed, leaving the stub below his knee as unmarred as if he’d been born without his left leg. The lightning bolt on his forehead didn’t heal, however, instead becoming an almost angry red for a moment, as it leaked blood at the tips.

The leaking blood disappeared almost as soon as it appeared, but the scar was left redder and more prominent than it had been against his pale white skin.

Pulling out his own wand—fourteen inches, with an ebony grip decorated in mother-of-pearl and small black diamonds, an African blackwood shaft, and an Augury tail feather as its core—Gomez grinned at Morticia, as together they tapped their wands in the middle of Neville’s forehead and in unison, they said, in Latin, “I name thee Neville Daemon Addams and claim you as my son.”

With Neville’s part of the ritual finished, Thing moved to Harrick next, opening his mouth, as Morticia repeated the ritual, with similar results as Harrick took on nearly identical coloring to Neville.

Finally, Gomez and Morticia tapped their wands on his forehead and said, again in Latin, “I name thee Harrick Draven Addams and claim you as my son.”

-o-0-o-

**_ December 24, 1986… _ **

Five years later, on a cold winter’s night, the Addams clan were happily climbing the stairs that led to the tower. As usual, a bunch of Christmas carolers were standing in front of the house singing.

“Their singing gets more annoying every year,” Pubert complained.

“True, but you know what doesn’t get annoying?” Neville asked.

“Their screams of pain and fright as they get boiling hot tar dumped over their heads,” Harrick said with a glint in his eye, as Pubert, Pugsley, and Wednesday all nodded their heads enthusiastically, while Gomez, Morticia, Fester, Grandmama, and Granny looked on with pride.

Exiting the house and out into the cold night air, each Addams took a deep breath. Such nice, biting weather. Some people hated the cold, but the Addams family loved it.

“How’s it coming, Lurch, Thing?” Wednesday asked.

Lurch groaned as Thing gave a thumbs up, even as he continued stirring the thick black sludge in the large cauldron.

“Places everyone,” Granny said, in her best director’s voice. “You’ll want a good view of the mayhem.”

The children nodded, as Wednesday and Pugsley laid down on the balcony to the right of the cauldron, hanging their heads over the edge to look down at the carolers below. Granny and Fester stood over them, as Grandmama took up her place on the right-hand side of the cauldron with Lurch on the left. Gomez lifted Morticia’s hand to his lips and kissed it, as they took up their places next to Lurch.

Neville and Harrick, meanwhile, moved into a sitting position at Gomez and Morticia’s feet, their legs dangling over the edge. Pubert was sitting just in front of and between his elder brothers, his elbows locked with theirs as they all leaned forward and Pubert braced his feet—all three of them—against the roof so that he and his brothers wouldn’t fall.

As fun as falling from the roof was, it wouldn’t do to spoil the fun by alerting the carolers of their presence and ruin the boiling surprise about to come their way.

Down below, the carolers' song drifted up as they sang, oblivious to what was about to happen. “Deck the halls with boughs of holly, Fa la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la. ‘Tis the season to be jolly, Fa la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la. Don we now our gay apparel, Fa la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la. Troll the ancient Yuletide carol, Fa la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la.”

Back up on the roof, Grandmama smiled, as she said, “It’s ready.”

Thing moved to the top of the large stirring rod, jumped over to Lurch’s shoulder, and then down onto Neville’s shoulder, as Grandmama vanished the stirring rod.

She smiled over at Lurch and said, “Now, we need to time this just right,” as Lurch groaned and nodded.

“Fa la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la,” the carolers sang as Grandmama and Lurch began to tip the cauldron. “Fa la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la.”

“Almost there,” Harrick said, with obvious glee in his voice, as the cauldron continued to be tipped forward and some of the boiling hot tar began to fall over the edge.

“Fa la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la.” The carolers continued to sing, oblivious to the shower of hot black sludge cascading down the front of the Addams mansion, like a waterfall. “Fa la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la.”

Seconds later, as the carolers sang, “See the blazing yule before us,” their singing finally stopped, as the tar rained down over their heads and they all began screaming and scattering. Some of them, blinded by the hot tar on their heads and in their eyes, even ran directly into each other and knocked themselves out, while others got their feet stuck in the sticky tar, causing them to overbalance and fall over.

“Glorious, isn’t it?” Gomez asked as he kissed Morticia’s hand.

“Oui, mon cher.”

“Oh Tish, that’s French,” Gomez said, as he began kissing his way up her arm, even as the children all applauded.

“Brava!” Neville exclaimed.

“Magnifica!” Harrick added.

“Stupenda!” Pubert shouted.

“This never gets old,” Pugsley said.

“No, it doesn’t,” Wednesday agreed, a wicked gleam in her eye, as she watched the panicking carolers below, thankful for the magic that Grandmama and Granny had weaved into the front gates.

Not only did their spells give the gates a form of sentience and the ability to open and close on their own, but they also compelled the carolers to return year after year. Passing through the front gates as they fled, the built-in magic would heal their burns and any other injuries, whether they’d been sustained on Addams property or not.

There was also a perception filter so that the carolers wouldn’t notice the visible splatter stains that the tar made on the pavement and the front of the mansion. The Addamses never cleaned it up from year to year, after all, as they enjoyed the year around reminder.

Lastly, were the memory charms that prevented them from remembering that the tar was boiling hot or just where exactly they’d gotten covered in it in the first place. It wouldn’t do for any of the carolers to report where the incident had occurred to the police, after all. The Addamses could Obliviate the authorities, of course, but why even involve them if it could be avoided altogether?

This way the carolers kept coming back every year for more and the Addamses got to cause mayhem and torture that the victims didn’t remember or suffer any lasting damage from.

Everybody benefited.

The Addamses got to enjoy a cherished family tradition.

The healing charms meant that many of the carolers actually left the property in better health than when they arrived.

And even the local businesses were supported as they all enjoyed an uptick in sales as the carolers had to buy new clothes to replace their tar stained clothing.

So, yeah, it was a win-win for everybody.

-o-0-o-

An hour later, some members of the family were relaxing in the living room while Morticia, Grandmama, and Granny were preparing everything they needed to conduct another cherished Addams family tradition… a Christmas Eve séance to commune with the dead.

Pugsley was sitting off to one side of the room, playing with a miniature guillotine and laughing as Uncle Fester put a light bulb in his mouth and made it light up. The clashing of swords could also be heard as Neville and Harrick fenced with Gomez and Thing.

Pubert, meanwhile, had his hands on the sides of an antique oaken book stand, reading from the pages of the centuries-old handwritten grimoire that was part of the usual Christmas decorations that went up this time of year. This also included blackened wreaths and withered garlands of holly and ivy, and the burned pine tree illuminated in the glow of a hundred tiny candles glinting off of the silver ornaments in the shape of skulls, spiders, bats, and rabid dogs. A large silver vulture with blood rubies for eyes sat atop the tree as a topper.

The five-year-old youngest son of Gomez and Morticia was engrossed in his reading, but not so engrossed that he didn’t notice when Wednesday snuck up behind him or when she moved an ax between her brother’s left arm and torso, just above the area beneath his ribs where his lower torso and hips got wider to accommodate his third leg… a remnant of the fact that Pubert had partially absorbed his twin in the womb.

Leaning forward, Pubert expertly dodged the ax, as he knelt down and then spun around, putting out his third leg to trip his sister and send her flying across the room into a wall. Seconds later, Wednesday’s eyes widened slightly, as Pubert launched multiple flaming arrows at his sister, impacting in the wall all around her body, framing her in a perfect Wednesday-shaped wreath of flaming death.

“Good show, old man,” Gomez said proudly, as he, Thing, Neville, and Harrick had paused in their fencing to watch.

The mustachioed boy grinned and took a bow, as Wednesday extricated herself from the flaming arrows, which had now mostly gone out. Turning and looking at them for a moment, she then turned to her youngest brother, nodded, and said, “Nice shooting.”

“Thanks,” Pubert said. “I’ve had a lot of practice, thanks to a certain someone who thinks it’d be jolly fun to hack off one of my legs.”

“Well, technically it's your twin’s leg, not yours,” Wednesday pointed out.

Shaking his head, Pubert said, “I didn’t have time to finish eating him before Mother decided to give birth and what was left came out attached to me and under my full control. So, as far as I’m concerned it’s mine now.”

“Possession is nine-tenths of the law,” Fester said with a grin.

“I’ve always wondered, did he taste good?” Harrick asked. “Your twin, I mean?”

Pubert turned his head and grinned at Harrick. “Honestly? I’m afraid I can’t remember. Although, considering how much of him is missing, I’d assume that he must have.”

“Indeed,” Neville said. “Just keep your teeth and appetite away from me will you?” And then grinning at Harrick, he added, “Although if you want to eat Harrick, go ahead.”

“Hey!” Harrick said as he slapped his brother upside the head.

Pubert just shook his head from side to side and said, “I’m good thanks,” as he watched Neville and Harrick fight, which was always an interesting sight to behold because their magical connection meant they couldn’t get away from each other as they had to maintain skin contact, which is why they often wore three-legged trousers.

“Plus, there’s too much of him,” Pubert added. “Don’t think I could eat all of him… besides, I’d be too afraid that if I did eat him, his connection to you would transfer to me.”

“Hmm, yes, that would be bad,” Neville said, as he grabbed both of Harrick’s wrists and stilled them. “I’d have to buy a whole new wardrobe.”

“At least you’d get a bulk discount,” Gomez said, as he put the fencing sabers away just as Morticia glided into the room and said, “Everything is ready.”

“Excellent, lead the way, Querida,” Gomez said, as he made a shooing motion with his hands to encourage the children to follow their mother.

-o-0-o-

Ten minutes later, the Addams family was gathered around the dining room table, as Lurch expertly played a somber and melancholy tune on the pipe organ.

Placing her hands at the base of a golden bird statuette, Morticia incanted, “Sing oh spirits, harken all souls. Every year on this date, we offer a clarion call to any relatives who wish to join and communicate with us.”

Lifting the statuette towards the ceiling, Morticia said, “From generation to generation, our beacon to the beyond.”

Moving the statuette so that it was sitting in front of Wednesday, Morticia said, “All close eyes and join hands.”

As the family closed their eyes and joined hands, Thing hopped up onto Lurch’s shoulder to watch. When it wasn’t just the family in attendance, Thing sometimes would impersonate one of the family member’s hands if they were sitting next to a non-family member so that they could spook them when they pulled their arm away… but that joke didn’t work on the family, as everybody in the house recognized Thing.

“Wednesday?” Morticia asked.

“Let us ransom you from the power of the grave,” Wednesday solemnly intoned. “Tonight, oh Death, let us be your plague.”

“Mama,” Morticia said.

“Relatives and ancestors,” Grandmama said, as she began moving her hands over her crystal ball. “Ceoli couris fierimaneeb… I feel that someone’s near! Anelot dos mirabus piret cotar. Nimbus et nosticus lazam badar.”

Lurch’s playing sped up a bit as he matched Grandmama’s tone, “Anelot dos mirabus piret cotar. Nimbus et nosticus lazam badar. Relatives and ancestors, gather your strength! And knock three times!”

Everyone jumped slightly, as suddenly there was a loud knocking noise, followed a second later by a second, and then a third.

“Did you hear that!” Grandmama called out, obviously excited.

“Ask again, Mama, quickly,” Morticia urged.

Grandmama nodded, as she moved her hands over her crystal again, and incanted, “Ceoli couris fierimaneeb... Relatives and ancestors, if you can hear me, knock on this table. Once for yes, twice for no.”

Everyone was straining their ears and they all perked up when there were two knocks on the table.

“Wait, two knocks?” Fester asked. “You said twice for no, right? Are they playing with us?”

This was immediately followed by one knock.

“Apparently so,” Neville said, as a slight grin appeared at the edge of his lips.

“So you can hear us then?” Harrick asked, which was followed by one knock.

“They’re here, we’ve made contact,” Grandmama said.

“They?” Wednesday asked. “Who?”

Concentrating hard, Grandmama said, “I think, I can sense four spirits... are their four of you?”

One knock.

“Are you Addamses?” Grandmama asked.

Two knocks, which surprised several people at the table, as it wasn’t often that they held these séances and made contact with anyone outside of the Addams family.

“Frumps?” Grandmama asked, deciding to see if it was one of Morticia’s deceased relatives.

There was silence for a moment, before there were two knocks on the table, followed by a long pause. Then another two knocks, then another long pause, followed by two more knocks. After another long pause, there was one knock that was almost immediately followed by two more.

“They confirmed there were four of them,” Neville said. “Could they be indicating that three of them are not Frumps and that one is?”

“Maybe,” Morticia allowed, “but the last time there were three knocks, not one.”

Everyone was quiet for a moment, before Pubert said, “Wait, maybe that was supposed to mean yes and no.”

“How could it be both?” Pugsley asked.

“Maybe they’re half-Frump?” Harrick questioned. “Like the child of one?”

Grandmama nodded, as she once again moved her hands over the crystal and asked, “Is one of you the child of a Frump?”

Almost immediately, there was one knock on the table to indicate that yes, one of the spirits was the child of a Frump.

“I think we’re going to have to open ourselves up,” Gomez said. “Let the spirits inhabit us so that they can speak through us.”

“Yes, that would be much easier than trying to communicate in yes and no questions,” Fester said. “There’s only so much information you can get that way.”

Nodding, Harrick added, “Yes, and it’s entirely dependent on asking the right questions.”

Granny nodded herself, as she said, “And without knowing who you’re speaking to, figuring out the right questions becomes all the harder.”

Grandmama moved her hands over her crystal again, as she said, “Spirits! We all open ourselves to you. If you wish to speak to us, you may speak through those seated at this table.”

Everything was quiet for a moment, before suddenly Granny’s head rolled around on her shoulders as her eyes shot open and she spoke, although not in her own voice.

“Neville? Are you there?” a feminine voice asked.

Neville nodded. “Yes, I’m here. Who am I speaking to?”

“Alice Longbottom née Barnes,” the spirit speaking through Granny said. “Your birth mother.”

Neville felt a shock run through him. Of course, he knew he was adopted. Twice over, in fact. Still, he hadn’t expected to ever get the chance to speak with the long-dead mother that birthed him… after all, while his family conducted séances all the time, it was usually exclusively Addamses that they managed to contact.

Before Neville could form a response, Fester’s head suddenly began moving from side to side, before his eyes suddenly shot open and a male voice, not Fester’s, said, “It’s good to finally reach you, son.”

“Son?” Neville asked. “Are you my birth father?”

“Yes, Neville,” the spirit speaking through Fester said. “I am Frank Longbottom. Your mother and I have been trying to make contact with you for years now.”

“The Addamses kept getting in the way, however,” Granny, still speaking in Alice’s voice said with a laugh. “They seemed to think they took precedence and kept pushing us to the back of the line.”

“You can all open your eyes, by the way,” Frank in Fester said. “Now that we’ve finally gotten through, we’ve got the upper hand and can push the Addams spirits away.”

“We’re very grateful to you, Gomez and Morticia, for raising our son,” Alice in Granny said. “Although your dead relatives can be more than a mite pushy when it comes to letting others through to speak with you.”

Gomez laughed. “Yes, we’re a protective bunch when it comes to our own. Living or dead.”

“That much is clear,” Frank said. “There are two more spirits here on the other side who wish to speak.”

At this Grandmama’s head rolled from side to side, before her eyes opened wider for a moment and a female voice said, “Harrick, my darling boy, it’s me. Lily Potter née Evans, your birth mother.”

Harrick was just about to say hello when suddenly Pubert’s eyes momentarily rolled back in his head before he slouched in his chair a bit and crossed his two outer legs over the middle one. An amused male voice not his own soon issued from Pubert’s mouth, as it said, “Very interesting family you’ve found yourself, son. This is James Potter.”

In the silence that followed, neither Neville nor Harrick really knew what to say since they had next to no memories of their birth parents. All of their memories were of Gomez, Morticia, and the rest of the Addams clan. It was them that they considered their family, not the spirits of those that had birthed them.

Frank and Alice and James and Lily were more distant concepts to them at this point. Outside of Lily being Morticia’s niece, Neville and Harrick really didn’t give any of them any thought, as bad as that might sound to some people.

“Hello, Lily, my dear,” Morticia said, with a faint smile on her lips.

“Aunt Tish,” Lily said. “I’m glad it’s you raising Harrick and Neville. I so wanted to flay Vernon for what he did to my boys, but thankfully Professor McGonagall killed the bastard.”

“I assume he’s not there with you, in the afterlife?” Neville asked, finally finding his voice.

“No, he isn’t,” Frank said. “I take great pleasure and solace in the fact that he’s roasting in the deepest pits of hell where he belongs.”

Pugsley grinned. “Cool.”

“You’ve certainly had very different childhoods from what we would have given you,” Alice said. “That’s not to say that we disapprove, however, as we gave up any right to have a say in how you were raised when we died.”

“Yes, as long as you’re happy,” Lily said, she paused, and then said, “Or I suppose to put it as an Addams would, as long as you’re frightfully miserable, then we’re pleased.”

“Indeed,” James said. “Now, before we have to leave and give these bodies back to their rightful owners, there are a few things we need to share with you.”

Grandmama nodded, as Lily said, “There was more behind us going into hiding than simply hiding from Voldemort. We wanted to keep both Harrick and Neville safe, of course, but it was actually a prophecy that prompted our decision.”

While Frank and Alice had never heard the prophecy in life, as they’d died only a week after Neville was born and thus before Albus had even told the Potters the prophecy, they knew it now, having had time to talk with James and Lily in the afterlife.

“Prophecy?” Morticia asked.

She’d always been interested in Divination, as she had a bit of talent with it. Not enough to really call herself a true Seer, but enough that she occasionally got very brief flashes of things before they happened. It had been one of those flashes that had caused her to start knitting three-legged onesies when she got pregnant with Pubert.

It was Lily who answered. **“ _The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies....”_**

“Interesting, very interesting,” Gomez said. “Neville and Harrick were both born at the end of July.”

Pubert’s head nodded, as James said, “Yes, the prophecy could have applied to either Neville, born 30 July, or Harrick, born 31 July. Of course, Voldemort doesn’t know the entire thing. His spy who heard it being given to Albus Dumbledore by Sybill Trelawney only heard the first two sentences. So everything after the first ‘seventh month dies’ Voldemort doesn’t know.”

“It could have applied to both of us, but was implied that it would only apply to one of us,” Harrick said, after a moment of thought. “That’s no longer the case anymore though, is it?”

“You are quite correct, Harrick,” Frank said. “When Voldemort attempted to kill you both in your crib, his spell backfired and hit him instead… leaving you both marked by your forehead scars.”

Neville sighed. “Well, it’s just one more thing that Harrick and I get to share then, I guess. We share pretty much everything else.”

Pugsley grinned. “Yes, everything right down to your underwear.”

Harrick rolled his eyes. “Really Pugs? I never would have guessed if you hadn’t told me that.”

“There’s something else you need to know,” James said. “You may have been told that my best friend, Sirius Black, was Lily’s and my Secret Keeper and that it was he who betrayed us to Voldemort.”

Gomez and Morticia nodded, as that is what Minerva and her husband, Elphinstone Urquart, had told them a couple of weeks after Minerva had placed Harrick and Neville in their care.

Minerva and Elphinstone had come over for dinner after moving to Mt. Greylock, Massachusetts. Poppy and her husband, Warrick Pomfrey, had also moved stateside. Minerva and Poppy both decided to give up their jobs at Hogwarts, as they couldn’t stand to look at and work with Albus Dumbledore any longer, knowing that he had put Harrick and Neville with the Dursleys and everything that entailed.

“That’s a lie,” Lily said. “While it is true that we did originally plan on using Sirius, ultimately we chose against it, as Sirius himself argued that he was far too obvious of a choice.”

“Yes, Sirius and I were very close,” James said. “Brothers in all but blood. So, instead, we went with another friend of ours, Peter Pettigrew.”

“Didn’t Sirius go to prison for murdering Peter?” Wednesday asked. She had only been four years old at that particular dinner, but when the topic turned to murder, even at four, she gave it her complete and undivided attention.

“Yes, murdering Peter and twelve muggles,” Alice said. “Or No-Majs as they’re called on this side of the pond. The problem is, it was Peter who killed them after cutting off his own finger and leaving it behind before escaping down a sewer drain.”

“Peter was an unregistered Animagus,” James revealed. “As were Sirius and I… we became Animagi while we were students at Hogwarts so that we could keep our friend Remus Lupin—a werewolf since he was bitten as a child—company on the night of the full moon.”

“Most admirable and impressive,” Gomez said. He paused here and then added, “So, what you’re saying is that this Sirius Black has spent the last five years in Azkaban Prison for crimes he didn’t commit?”

“For crimes he was never even tried or convicted of,” Frank said. “The Ministry in its eternal stupidity that it desperately tries—and fails—to make look like infinite wisdom, sent him directly to Azkaban without even the semblance of a trial. In fact, they never even bothered to give him Veritaserum and ask any questions or to check his wand to see what the last spells he cast were.”

“They never even bothered to check his arm to see if he bore the Dark Mark,” Alice said, the disdain clear in her tone. “They just found him at the scene of the crime, assumed him guilty, and shipped him off to Azkaban to rot with the Dementors.”

Harrick could see the looks on his family’s faces and knew that they were all thinking the same thing he was and that was, **_‘Lucky man.’_**

Of course, he was aware that to anyone who wasn’t an Addams, that Dementors were dark creatures to be feared. To an Addams, however, a fortress infested with dark creatures on a desolate rock in the middle of a cold, wet, and rainy sea? That was basically a dream vacation spot.

Dementors did, after all, glory in decay and despair… just like the Addamses.

Lily said, “I know what you’re all thinking. That Sirius is lucky, but I would appreciate it if you could free him from his imprisonment, if only because he’s both Neville’s and Harrick’s godfather.”

“He is?” Neville asked. “I suppose I never gave it much thought, but didn’t I have my own godparents when I was born?”

“Yes, you did,” Alice answered. “Gideon Prewett and Dorcas Meadowes… both died in the war with Voldemort. As did Frank’s mother, his grandaunt Callidora, and her two children, Algernon and Enid. That’s why James and Lily blood-adopted you, Neville. Because the last living adult members of the Longbottom family and your godparents were already dead.”

“Our time on this earth grows short and we must depart,” Lily said. “However, one final request before we go…”

“Yes?” Gomez asked.

“I know you have a private cemetery,” Lily said. “We’d appreciate it if you could exhume our graves in England and rebury us there. Not only James and I, but Frank and Alice, as well. So, Neville and Harrick can, if they want to visit us without going to another country.”

Gomez could see the eager look on his children’s faces… they loved exhuming graves. “That won’t be a problem.”

“You might also seek out Remus Lupin,” James said. “Our werewolf friend I mentioned. Sirius is his mate, so I imagine his wolf is quite forlorn without him. And I have a funny feeling that on the night of the full moon, you wouldn’t mind having a werewolf running around your property.”

Wednesday, Pugsley, Neville, and Harrick all smiled at this, as it was true, they definitely wouldn’t mind. If Pubert was in control of his own body, he’d no doubt also be smiling and looking forward to it.

“A few more quick things before we depart,” Alice said. “First and foremost, don’t trust Albus Dumbledore.”

“Second, Alice and I left an inheritance for Neville in a vault at the Diagon Alley branch of Gringotts,” Frank said.

“James and I did the same,” Lily added. “Including the grimoires you gave James and I as a wedding gift, Aunt Morticia, Uncle Gomez.”

Pubert grinned, as James said, “And Wednesday, Pugsley, Neville, Harrick, make sure to ask Pubert about the Marauders… I’ve just shared my memories on the topic with him. I think you’ll find them fun.”

“Goodbye,” Frank, Alice, Lily, and James said in unison, before seconds later, Grandmama’s, Granny’s, Fester’s, and Pubert’s eyes closed and their heads rolled from side to side, as they all seemed to deflate for a split second before they all took in a deep, shuddering breath as their eyes shot open.

“Wow,” Pubert said. “My first possession by a spirit. That was so cool! Tiring, but cool!”

-o-0-o-

To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there’s Ch2 of ‘The Brothers Addams’. This story is my first time attempting to write the Addams family characters, so I hope I’m doing them justice.
> 
> And yes, I’m aware that Pubert wasn’t depicted with three legs in Addams Family Values, but I figured what the hell? Why not make it more than just eccentricity that made Morticia knit a three-legged onesie at the end of The Addams Family? I figure the Addamses would most definitely not do what most parents would do if they had a child who absorbed a twin in the womb and had visible extra body parts. I think they’d embrace it and think it marvelous, rather than have the extras surgically removed.
> 
> Also, in case anyone is wondering, ‘Anelot dos mirabus piret cotar. Nimbus et nosticus lazam badar’ is to the best of my knowledge mostly made up and nonsensical faux-Latin. It was lifted from a séance scene in an old 1946 movie. I figure it fits the scene, so I used it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: The last scene of this chapter contains instances of torture for a person who truly deserves it. I tried to remain vague and not too graphic, but it could still be disturbing to some.

The Brothers Addams  
By J.C. Vascardi

-o-0-o-

Chapter Three

-o-0-o-

**_ December 24, 1986… _ **

After the séance, the family ate dinner, before they retired to the living room for after-dinner drinks. As Lurch handed out steaming cups of Eudora’s henbane tea mixed with Old Ogden’s Black Label Firewhisky, Gomez handed out cigars to Pugsley, Neville, Harrick, and Pubert.

He smiled as his youngest lit up and stuck the cigar between his lips, as it brought back fond memories of his own childhood when Eudora had insisted that he start smoking at the age of five. Following that tradition, each of his sons had been given their first cigars on their fifth birthdays and had been smoking ever since.

Looking at the children, Gomez said, “After the séance and before dinner, I had a word with your mother and she’s agreed to my plan.”

“Plan, Father?” Neville asked.

Gomez smiled. “How would you like to go on a family vacation from Boxing Day until the New Year?”

The children were all quite eager to take a family trip and began naming places they’d love to go.

“How about the Bermuda Triangle?” Wednesday asked.

“Poenari Castle?” Pubert asked, suggesting the Romanian castle that once belonged to Vlad the Impaler.

“Can we go to Poveglia Island?” Pugsley asked as he’d always wanted to visit the island near Venice, Italy that had once been used as a quarantine zone for people suffering from the plague and that was later home to an insane asylum.

“The Paris Catacombs would be fun,” Neville said, as exploring the tunnels where the remains of more than six million people reside was certainly a draw for any Addams.

“Camping in the Hoia-Baciu Forest?” Harrick suggested, which was widely believed to be one of the most haunted forests in Romania and was sometimes known as the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania.

“While those are all lovely suggestions,” Gomez said, after sharing a smile with Morticia, “I was thinking more along the lines of cousin Ekrizdis’s property.”

“Where’s that?” Pubert asked.

“Who’s that?” Pugsley asked, as he thought back on his lessons on Addams family history and couldn’t place the name.

Morticia smiled and said, “Ekrizdis Addams was a fifteenth-century wizard who lived alone in a fortress on a lonely, desolate rock in the North Sea. Years of isolation are believed to have driven him insane and he frequently lured sailors to his island, where he tortured and killed them.”

“He made use of some of the worst of the Dark Arts,” Gomez added. “So, the aura of the place is no doubt quite dark and depressing… combined with the cold and rainy weather, I think it sounds perfect.”

“The fortress is still there?” Wednesday asked.

“Oh yes,” Gomez said. “Not only is the fortress still there, but it's infested with Dementors and in active use as a prison.”

Harrick’s eyes widened as he asked, “You mean?”

Nodding, Morticia said, “Yes, Harrick, darling, Cousin Ekrizdis owned Azkaban. In fact, it’s still technically owned by the Addams family. The British Ministry for Magic leases the property from us for use as a prison.”

“There are, however, a multitude of hidden rooms and secret passages throughout the fortress that they don’t know about,” Gomez said. “So we can easily spend a week there and bask in its lovely gloom. We can free Neville’s and Harrick’s godfather from prison, and we might even be able to get in a spot of torture and murder from among the worst of the prison’s inhabitants that the Ministry will not mourn if they turn up dismembered, disemboweled, and/or dead.”

“YAY!!” Wednesday, Pugsley, Neville, Harrick, and Pubert all exclaimed, with the reactions from Fester, Eudora, and Hester being almost as enthusiastic as the children’s.

-o-0-o-

Finishing their cigars and tea, Neville and Harrick said goodnight to their parents, before they headed upstairs to their bedroom. Taking off their suit jackets and hanging them up, they unbuckled their belt and undid the zippers on their trousers before pushing them down.

Sitting down on their bed, they took them off, before turning to one another and just looking at each other for a moment.

“So, what do you think Sirius will be like?” Neville asked, breaking the silence.

“I don’t know,” Harrick said. “I can’t say that I remember him.”

“Not surprising. We’d only just turned fifteen months old the day before and the day that James and Lily died.”

“And he went to Azkaban shortly after that. So any interaction we had with him would have to be before then.”

Neville nodded. “I have no memories from that time. I don’t even remember when Vernon did this,” as he motioned to the prosthetic that went over both their knees.

“Yeah, neither do I, although I wish I did.”

“The pain must have been incredible.”

“No doubt,” Harrick said before he yawned. “I suppose we should get ready for bed.”

Neville yawned himself and then nodded, as he reached down and undid the straps that held his and Harrick’s prosthetic on. Due to their need to maintain skin contact and the fact that they were missing opposite limbs, Gomez and Morticia had a single prosthetic leg crafted for them. It fit over both of their stumps and thus helped hold their legs together to maintain the needed contact.

There were two artificial feet attached to it and padding so that when they were fully dressed, you wouldn’t be able to tell that it wasn’t two fully real legs.

Removing the prosthetic, they set it aside, before taking off the vests of the three-piece suits they’d been wearing, followed by their bow ties, and finally their white dress shirts. Placing them on the trunk at the foot of their bed, they then crawled into bed.

“Goodnight, Nev,” Harrick said sleepily.

“Rest in peace, Rick,” Neville said, as they both folded their arms over their chests and closed their eyes.

Ten minutes later, Morticia glided into the room, tucked them in, and kissed them goodnight, before turning out the light.

-o-0-o-

**_ December 26, 1986… _ **

On Boxing Day, Lurch carried the children’s luggage down to the living room, as Gomez tossed a pinch of Floo powder into the fire, making the flames flare as they turned green.

Pulling out her wand, Morticia shrank all the luggage and had each child pick up their luggage and place it in their pockets.

Putting his arm around his daughter, Gomez smiled and said, “Hold on tight, Wednesday,” as she nodded and together they stepped into the flames, as Gomez said, “Number 13A Knockturn Alley!”

After Gomez and Wednesday disappeared, Fester and Pugsley went through, with Morticia taking Pubert through a few moments later. Eudora and Hester then grabbed onto Neville, Harrick, and each other, before they stepped into the flames and Eudora called out the address, leaving Lurch and Thing to come through last.

-o-0-o-

Arriving at their destination, the Addamses stepped out of the fireplace into the living room of their London flat at 13A Knockturn Alley.

The building that had actually once belonged to Cousin Ekrizdis before he built Azkaban. The family rented out the ground floor of the building to Borgin and Burke’s, located at 13B Knockturn Alley. The London flat was vacant most of the year, although when they arrived, they found that wasn’t the case now.

“Mace?” Gomez asked, upon seeing the five-year-old son of his Cousins Lumpy, Dexter, and Donald Addams.

“Cousin Gomez,” Mace said.

“What are you doing here?” Morticia asked.

“Vacation,” Mace said before he turned his head and called out, “Hey Echo, Fathers! Cousin Gomez and family are here!”

A moment later, Mace’s mirror twin Echo—hence his name—came out of the kitchen with his parents following not far behind.

“Cousin Gomez, what a dreadful surprise,” Dexter said. “What brings you here?”

“Just passing through actually,” Gomez said before he grinned. “You’re welcome to join us though… decided to take the family on vacation to Azkaban.”

Donald grinned. “Oh, it's miserable this time of year. Even more cold and rainy than normal.”

Lumpy grinned and nodded. “Yes, sounds perfect.”

“You all go on ahead,” Dexter said. “We’ll just pack and then follow you.”

Gomez nodded before he led his family over to the wall to the left of the fireplace, where the head of a Hebridean Black dragon was mounted on the wall, a man’s lower body and legs sticking out of the mouth.

“Cousin Ekrizdis’s twin brother Azkaban Addams,” Gomez said as he motioned towards the legs. “Got ate by the dragon the summer before Ekrizdis built Azkaban Fortress, which he in turn named after his brother.”

“Ekrizdis killed the dragon before it finished eating Azkaban,” Eudora said. “And then had the head taken off and stuffed along with what was left of his brother.”

“It’s mounted on the wall with a Permanent Sticking Charm,” Hester added. “And serves as the portkey to the fortress.”

The children nodded, before the family all moved over and one-by-one touched the head and disappeared in the same pairings they’d Flooed into the London flat in. Mainly because none of the children were tall enough yet to be able to reach the dragon head or Cousin Azkaban’s legs on their own.

-o-0-o-

Appearing in Ekrizdis’s private quarters on the topmost floor of Azkaban Fortress, the Addamses took a few moments to revel in their new surroundings.

Rotted walls. Bloodstained floors. Moth-eaten carpets and drapes. Pouring rain. Howling wind. Flashes of lightning and crashes of thunder. Blistering cold. Screams. Shrieks. Howls. Moans. The oppressive depression caused by the Dementors.

“Kids! Welcome to paradise.” Gomez exclaimed. Turning to Morticia, he smiled and asked, “Unhappy, darling?”

“Oh yes. Yes, completely,” Morticia answered, in a sultry tone. “Nous devrions prendre des vacances plus souvent.”

“Oh, Tish, that’s French, you know what that does to me.”

Morticia smiled. “Oui, mon cher,” as Gomez whispered, “Cara mia,” as he grabbed her arm and started kissing his way up from the tips of her fingers all the way up to her neck, before dipping her backward and kissing her passionately on the lips.

Dexter, Donald, Lumpy, Mace, and Echo appeared in the room not long after this, and seeing what Cousin Gomez was doing and not wanting to be outdone, Lumpy grinned before he dipped his twin husbands and kissed them just as passionately.

Eudora just shook her head, as she said, “Come children, let’s go pick out your rooms and settle in for the week.”

Gomez and Morticia’s five children plus their two cousins nodded as they followed Eudora out of the room, as Lurch got out the groceries they’d brought from home, prompting Hester to pull out her wand and start unshrinking them.

-o-0-o-

**_ December 27, 1986… _ **

The following day, Morticia, Neville, Harrick, and Pubert walked silently through one of the dark, secret passageways of the fortress that the British Ministry of Magic was never told about when the papers for them to lease the building as a prison were signed. Just as they weren’t told about the topmost floor that had contained Ekrizdis’s living quarters.

The only light in the narrow passage was from the six-candle silver candelabra held aloft by Morticia. She could have used her wand, of course, but she preferred the flickering of the candlelight on the dark stones. It was more romantic.

Besides, her wand was otherwise occupied with a spell that would temporarily widen the section of passage they were in. It was narrow enough to be a tight fit even for Morticia, but without the spell, Neville, Harrick, and Pubert would have had to walk sideways to fit through it.

“It should be just ahead,” Morticia said, having studied the map of the passages that Gomez, Lumpy, and Thing had made after dinner last night.

“Where are we going?” Pubert asked.

“You’ll see,” Morticia answered, her tone cryptic, as she stopped in a small square room that was wider than the passage they’d used to get here.

It appeared to be a dead-end, but as she ended the spell to widen the passage once her children had joined her in the small room, she tapped a few bricks with her wand, causing them to start moving and creating a hole wide enough for them to walk through.

“This room connects to three of the prison cells,” Morticia said, as she stepped through the hole and spied a large black dog sleeping on the cot. “And this one, in particular, happens to belong to one Sirius Black.”

Pubert grinned as he spotted the large black dog on the bed. Thanks to the memories that James had given him, he said, “Also known as Padfoot.”

The voices and light from the candles roused the dog, who opened his eyes, lifted his head, and looked confusedly up at the tall, black-haired woman who was as pale as death standing before him with a candelabra in one hand and a wand in the other.

Turning its head, the dog next spotted three young black-haired boys… which probably wouldn’t have caused as much confusion on his part if it wasn’t for the fact that a) this was Azkaban, and b) the three boys had six legs between them.

Taking a closer look, he noted that two of the boys were wearing a pair of three-legged trousers between them and had matching lightning bolt scars on different sides of their foreheads. He would have thought them to be conjoined twins, except for the fact that they weren’t identical. The third boy, however, who the dog was pretty sure had called him by name, had three legs all to himself.

Letting out a confused whine at the sight before his eyes, the three-legged boy came closer, showing absolutely zero fear, before sitting down on the cot next to him.

“Hey Padfoot, I’m Pubert Addams.” Motioning towards the tall woman, he added, “This is my mother, Morticia,” and then motioning towards the two boys, he added, “And my brothers, Neville and Harrick.”

It took a moment for the words to process, but when they did, the dog’s head lifted further into the air and he started smelling it. He vaguely remembered Lily mentioning having an Aunt Morticia… and Neville and Harrick? Was it a coincidence?

After a moment, however, the dog’s head drooped and it whined, clearly not smelling what it was expecting to smell.

Pubert, however, guessed the reasoning behind this and petted the black dog, as he said, “They are your Neville and Harrick, Padfoot. They were blood-adopted by my parents though, so their scent has probably changed.”

Nodding, Morticia said, “Indeed, Sirius. I am Lily’s Aunt Morticia.” With a nod towards the opening in the wall, they’d come through—an opening that the dog was sure hadn’t been there before in all the years he’d been in this cell—she added, “So if you’d like to follow us, we’ll get you out of here.”

The dog just stared at Morticia for a moment and then turned his head to look at Pubert for a long moment, before looking at Neville and Harrick for an even longer moment. Finally, he barked and moved off the cot, as Pubert stood up and the four of them left the cell.

-o-0-o-

An hour or so later, Hester came out to the living room and looked at the gathered family.

“Remaining in his Animagus form has protected him from the worst of the Dementor’s effects, just as our own blood protects us,” she said. “However, I can’t get a proper read on the extent of his health while he’s in his Animagus form and it would be inadvisable for him to shift out of it while still on this island.”

“The Knockturn flat should be safe enough,” Dexter said, as he, Donald, Lumpy, and their sons had been filled in on the subject of Sirius and why the others cared about him or had decided to free him from his imprisonment. “That’s well outside of the Dementor’s influence or effects.”

Hester nodded. “Yes, although someone is going to have to go and keep an eye on him.”

“We could do it in shifts, I suppose,” Gomez said. “The portkeys to and from provide quick and easy transport.”

Nodding, Hester said, “That’ll work. I’ll take the first shift. I’ll get him situated and get his potions brewed.”

“I’ll go with you,” Eudora said. “While you handle that, I’ll ward the flat so that he can’t leave until he’s properly recovered.”

“Yes, our freeing him from captivity is rather pointless,” Morticia said, “if he just wakes up, leaves the flat, and gets caught again. Knowing the British Ministry, they’d probably just have him Kissed instead of sending him back to prison.”

“True. They’d figure if he escaped once, he could escape again,” Fester said. “Plus, that brings the possibility of our involvement in said escape coming out. Which could cause problems that we don’t need.”

Everyone nodded, before Eudora and Hester took the portkey back to Knockturn Alley with Sirius, as the rest of the Addams clan went back to enjoying their vacation.

-o-0-o-

Meanwhile, at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Arabella Figg was seated in the Headmaster’s Office, as she awaited his return. She’d only just arrived for a scheduled meeting with the headmaster when a message arrived from Flitwick about an urgent school matter that needed his immediate attention.

The diminutive Professor of Charms and Head of Ravenclaw House had been the Deputy Headmaster ever since the completely unexpected resignation of Minerva McGonagall back in December of 1981.

When she’d handed it in to the headmaster, she agreed only to finish out the current term, forcing Albus to return to his former role as Professor of Transfiguration for the rest of the year, as he was unable to find a new professor to replace Minerva on such short notice and in the middle of a school year.

Arabella wasn’t complaining, however, as it gave her a few extra moments to formulate just how she was going to tell the headmaster the news that she had to deliver. She could scarcely believe it herself and she had a feeling that Albus Dumbledore was not going to be a happy man when she shared what she had to tell him.

After waiting for about half-an-hour, Albus re-entered his office and said, “I apologize, Arabella,” as he rounded his desk and returned his seat, as he heaved a heavy sigh. “Moaning Myrtle flooded the toilets in the second-floor girl’s bathroom again. It was a bit more serious this time, however, as the water leaked down to the floor below into a classroom that was in use by several of the students who stayed over the break.”

Shaking his head, he added, “So, they got drenched and suffered some cuts and bruises from falling debris due to the partially collapsed ceiling. And to add insult to injury, Peeves blocked the exit and started pelting them with dung bombs.”

“Oh my,” Arabella said. “I do hope everyone is okay?”

“Yes, once we got the Bloody Baron up to force Peeves to unlock the door,” Albus said, “Filius and I managed to fix the damage while Madam Wainscott managed to heal all the students.”

“Madam Wainscott?”

“Philippa Wainscott,” Albus answered. “She took over as Matron of Hogwarts when Madame Pomfrey retired at the end of the 1981-82 school year.”

While Poppy hadn’t wanted to stay at Hogwarts any more than Minerva had, knowing what Albus had done, she had toughed it out until the end of the school year. She had the advantage though that she didn’t interact with Albus anywhere near as frequently as the Deputy Head had to, so, she was able to make it to the end of the year. She did this because she knew that if she timed her ‘retirement’ at the same time as Minerva’s resignation it would have looked suspicious.

Fixing himself a cup of tea and popping a sherbet lemon into his mouth, he smiled and asked, “Tea? Sherbet lemon?”

Not wanting to be holding a cup of hot liquid in her hands or have anything in her mouth that she could choke on when she delivered her news, Arabella politely declined.

“So, what did you want to talk to me about?”

“Well, Albus, I’m not exactly sure where to start.”

“I find that the beginning is usually a good place.”

“Yes, well, um, you tasked me with watching Number Four Privet Drive,” Arabella said, causing Albus to nod. “Which I have been for several years now. The Dursleys, however, are not exactly social with me, as they see me as the crazy cat lady. So, I watched the house as much as I could without it appearing suspicious or like I was stalking them.”

“Understandable.”

“Yes, well, I figured there was no need to watch the house too closely while Neville and Harrick were babies. As obviously I wasn’t expecting to see fifteen-month-old babies out in the front garden playing.”

“No, I should think not.”

“Recently, however, I became curious as it’s now been a few years and they should have gotten older by now, as they turned six earlier this year. Old enough that seeing them playing outside occasionally or even going to a muggle primary school wouldn’t be outside of the realm of possibility.”

“I quite agree,” Albus said, his tone very carefully masked as he thought, **_‘Quit stalling you old hag and get to the point!’_**

“Well, I got curious so I tried to go over and introduce myself. I’d just arrived at the front door and was about to ring the bell when the next-door neighbor told me that Mr. and Mrs. Davies weren’t home.”

Albus sat up straighter, as he asked, “Mr. and Mrs. Davies? Are you sure you were at the right house?”

Nodding, Arabella said. “Yes, I double-checked and then asked the neighbor about the Dursleys. She told me that Vernon Dursley had died from a heart attack five years previous and that his widow, Petunia, and their son, Dudley, had moved away not long after.”

“Moved away?” Albus asked. “And you didn’t notice this?”

Hanging her head, Arabella said, “I questioned the neighbor a bit more and then went home. When I got home, I checked my old diaries and I realized that during the period that Petunia had apparently sold the house and moved away, I was over in Dublin, caring for my sick mother for the last three months of her life.”

“I see,” Albus said, doing his level best to maintain a calm and friendly front, while inside he was seething. “And what of young Neville and Harrick?”

“I asked about them,” Arabella said. “But the neighbor just looked at me with a confused look and asked who I was referring to. Because as far as they were aware, Vernon and Petunia Dursley only had one child and they knew nothing about them taking in their nephews.”

Albus took several deep breaths, before finally, he asked, his tone losing the friendly façade, as he asked, “Arabella, are you trying to tell me that you lost The-Boys-Who-Lived?!”

“Well, I wouldn’t put it quite that way…”

“Oh? And how exactly would you put it? You’ve been well-paid to do one thing and one thing only. Watch Number Four and keep me apprised of what’s going on. And now, you’re telling me that Vernon died and Petunia and her little hell-spawn moved away five years ago and you didn’t notice?”

Arabella tried to answer, but Albus cut her off, clearly angry, as he continued, “You mean to tell me that not even once in the last five years did you realize that you’d gotten new neighbors at the house you were being paid to watch? How could you possibly have missed that you blind, feckless, old dingbat?”

Standing up from his desk, Albus began pacing back and forth angrily, as Arabella just shrank into her chair feeling incredibly small after the dressing down. She knew going into this that he’d be angry, of course, but somehow she didn’t expect… well, she didn’t really know what she was expecting.

Muttering to himself, although in the quiet room it was loud enough that Arabella could hear him, Albus said, “Of all the stupid, foolish, idiotic, and imbecilic things to do… Sweet Circe and Morgana’s sagging tits this will teach me to trust a Merlin-effing squib to do a witch or wizard’s work.”

That cut deep, as Arabella had always faced criticism as far back as she could remember over her lack of magic. Her own parents had been the most critical. Even her ailing mother who’d asked her to come and help her all those years ago had spent half the time maligning her inability to do magic.

Albus Dumbledore had always been different, however. Or so she’d thought. So to hear him say that, well, she couldn’t help the tears that came to her eyes, as her illusions of the man’s greatness were shattered as he continued to rage about her stupidity and lack of magical ability.

Opening her purse, Arabella pulled out a pair of clean handkerchiefs… one to dry her eyes and the other to blow her nose. The sound caused Albus to stop mid-rant and look over at her.

“I suppose I shouldn’t cast her aside too soon,” Albus said, obviously to himself. “Even though she royally screwed up this time, she may still prove useful to me at some point, although I fail to see how.”

Pulling out his wand, he pointed it at the woman and said, **_“Obliviate!”_**

-o-0-o-

**_ December 29, 1986… _ **

Over the next couple of days, the Addamses continued to enjoy their vacation. Especially when they realized that there were no human guards at the prison, possibly due to the holiday season.

They also realized that their blood connection to Ekrizdis allowed them to walk the halls of the prison unmolested by the Dementors who simply didn’t pay them any mind. In fact, Donald and Dexter swore that one of them had even seemed to bow to them.

The family was completely unconcerned about any of the prisoners seeing them, because who were they going to tell? And what witch or wizard in their right mind who might come in as a guard after the new year was going to believe them even if they did?

“Besides,” Gomez said, “We own the building. And as a lawyer, I can tell you with certainty that one of the clauses buried in the lease agreement says that any member of the Addams family can visit whenever they want and for any reason without notice.”

“Seems like a bit of a security risk for a prison,” Lumpy said, before asking, “Does the Ministry even know about that clause?”

Shaking his head, Gomez said, “Probably not, but that doesn’t make it any less legally-binding.”

“Yes, we can hardly be blamed if they didn’t bother to read the contract before signing it,” Morticia said with a smile.

None of the Addamses were complaining, however, and chose not to look a gift horse in the mouth. Having greater access to the prison meant that they could access the prison records, which allowed them to see what each prisoner was detained for.

This allowed them to pick a number of the worst of the worst that they could torture, maim, and leave to die with no guilt whatsoever. Hell, some of these people were so bad that they doubted even the Ministry would care if they turned up dead. Certainly, none of their victims’ families would. They’d probably throw a party.

Leading Harrick and Neville down one of the corridors of the prison, Morticia said, “Boys, I’ve picked someone especially egregious for you to play with.”

“What did they do?” Harrick asked.

“Oh the list of charges against them is longer than all of our arms combined,” Morticia said. “And unlike many criminals who refuse to admit their guilt, this prisoner relishes in telling anybody who will listen exactly what they did.”

After a pause, she continued, “The list includes several breaches to the Statute of Secrecy, using magic in front of and on muggles, multiple uses of the Unforgivable Curses, theft, bribery, torture, murder, molestation, rape, and perhaps worst of all, child sex trafficking.”

Rubbing his hands together, a gleeful look on his face, Neville said, “Oh I’m going to enjoy this.”

Neville and Harrick were only six, but their homeschooling by Morticia, Endora, and Hester was quite extensive. Not only could they all speak much better than most kids their age, but they also already knew all about sex. Of course, growing up with parents that were as loving and romantic with one another as Gomez and Morticia were was bound to have some effect.

“Is child sex trafficking common among Death Eaters?” Harrick asked, curious to know just how depraved they really were.

The Addamses were dark. They enjoyed pain, torture, death, and decay. However, some lines should never be crossed. And in any way facilitating the use of underage children in any form of unwanted or coerced sexual activity was at the very top of that list.

“Some do adhere to a code of ethics,” Morticia said. “Others, however, such as this particular prisoner, have no ethics whatsoever. They routinely engaged in the most heinous of crimes in the name of Voldemort… often times going beyond even what he ordered simply to satisfy their own sick desires.”

Reaching a cell door, Morticia looked through the small barred window for a moment, before she raised her wand and cast a stunning spell on the occupant of the cell so that they couldn’t try to escape when the door was opened.

Neville and Harrick followed their mother into the room and were somewhat surprised to see that the prisoner in question was a woman. She wouldn’t have looked out of place at an Addams family reunion, in fact, as her frizzy black hair streaked with gray reminded them a bit of Eudora’s hairstyle.

As she levitated the prisoner onto the cot and flipped them over, as they’d fallen face-first to the floor when she’d stunned them, Morticia said, “Children, meet Bellatrix Lestrange.”

“So when do we begin?” Harrick asked with an eager look on his face. “This bitch needs some tender loving care Addams style.”

Morticia nodded. “Indeed, one more thing, before we begin, however… you should know that among her uses of the Unforgivable Curses are repeated uses of the Cruciatus Curse on two particular victims until their minds broke beyond repair and use of the Killing Curse after that.”

“Is there something special about these victims?” Neville asked, wondering why with all of this woman’s numerous crimes, some of which were far worse, his mother felt the need to highlight these in particular.

Kneeling down to Neville’s level and placing a hand on his shoulder, she said, “Neville, the victims in question were your birth parents. Frank and Alice Longbottom.”

Neville remained quiet for a moment, as Harrick raised his arm and wrapped it around his brother’s shoulders in a show of support.

Neville had no memories of Frank and Alice. He honestly couldn’t say that he even loved them. Not the way that he loved Gomez and Morticia, Harrick, or the rest of his family. That, however, didn’t stop a raging fury from rising in him at his mother’s words.

Yes, to an extent, he was actually grateful for his birth parents’ deaths as it led to him gaining Harrick as his brother and ultimately becoming a member of the Addams clan. He would never be angry about that because he loved his family and every minute of being an Addams. It defined his very existence.

Still… this woman had wronged people who without whom he wouldn’t exist at all.

“She needs to suffer,” Neville said. “She needs to be brought to the point that she’s begging for us to kill her. We need to bring her so close to the threshold of death that there’s no possible way that her magic can save her and then we need to leave her there so she can suffer alone and terrified as she waits for the hellhounds to drag her miserable soul into the depths of hell.”

“Oh she’ll suffer, all right,” Harrick said, a wicked gleam in his eye. “Let’s get started, shall we?”

As she stood up, Morticia said, “As much as I agree with you Neville, you should know that it’s unlikely that her soul will ever end up in hell. While they leave us alone due to our connection to Cousin Ekrizdis, it is unlikely that reduced to the point you’re suggesting that the Dementors will restrain themselves from giving her the Kiss.”

“Well, turning her into a Dementor’s dinner works too,” Neville said. “As long as she suffers like she’s never suffered before.”

“Very well then,” Morticia said, as she turned to the cot and transfigured it into a rack, as ropes fastened themselves to Bellatrix’s wrists and ankles.

Neville and Harrick shared a wicked grin as they took up a place next to the tightening wheel, each of them placing their hands on it and getting ready to turn it. Nodding to their mother, Morticia dipped her head and then lifted the Stunning Spell… torturing those who couldn’t scream was simply no fun at all.

Looking up and seeing Morticia standing over her, Bellatrix narrowed her eyes and asked, “Who the hell are you?”

“Morticia Addams,” and then motioning towards her sons, she said, “And these are my sons, Harrick and Neville Addams.”

“We’re the ones who killed your boss,” Harrick said.

“And you’re the one who tortured and killed my birth parents,” Neville added. “Which you’re now going to pay for.”

“Mongrels! You can’t do anything to me.”

“Everyone in this room is a pureblood, Bella,” Morticia said, turning to her sons, she smiled and asked, “Boys?”

Neville and Harrick nodded as they turned the wheel sharply, pulling Bellatrix’s arms and legs as they did so.

“You claim to be purebloods,” Bellatrix said. “But you’re using inferior muggle methods of torture. If you were true wizards, you’d use magic. The Cruciatus Curse is far superior to anything you can do to me the muggle way.”

Shaking his head, Neville said, “Well, Harrick and I are only six and don’t have our wands yet. So, you’ll just have to deal with muggle methods of torture.”

“We will disabuse you of the foolish notion that they’re inferior, however,” Harrick said. “Where’s the fun in just flicking a stick and muttering a word? No, it’s far more delicious to torture the old fashioned way that requires work and skill. The Cruciatus Curse is a pale and weak replacement for those too lazy to learn the true art of torture.”

“Sadly for you, as Addamses,” Neville said, as he and Harrick turned the wheel again, “Harrick and I have learned the art of torture and by the time we’re done with you, you’ll be begging us to kill you.”

“Never! Do your worst! I will never beg for anything from two stupid little children playing at torture.”

“We’ll see who’s playing,” Morticia said, as she grinned at her boys and said, “Again.”

Neville and Harrick turned the wheel.

“Again.”

This continued for a few more minutes until suddenly there were four sickening pops as Bellatrix’s arms and legs dislocated from their sockets.

“Now, time for blood, I think,” Morticia said, as she raised her wand and cast a spell on Bellatrix’s head.

Leaning down over the woman, she said, “That spell I just cast, in case you didn’t recognize it, will keep you conscious and aware of everything my sons do to you. Even if they cut you open and sever the vital connections of your internal organs, that spell will ensure that you will remain conscious and aware of each and every incision.”

Bellatrix, despite the pain caused by her dislocated arms and legs, just scoffed, as she remained defiant.

“Your defiance is good,” Neville said. “It will make this all the sweeter, right brother dear?”

“Oh yes,” Harrick said. “Keep it up, Bella. For as long as you can.”

Moving away from the transfigured cot, Neville and Harrick took out the bundle of tools from one of the magically expanded pockets of their trousers, which allowed them to carry the large and bulky collection without shrinking it.

Unrolling it on a small table nearby where Bellatrix ate her meals, they perused the tools available to them for a moment, before they settled on the tweezers, with which they one by one, pulled out each and every one of Bella’s finger and toenails.

While they did that, Morticia was heating a fireplace poker.

Pleased with her boys’ handiwork, Morticia vanished her prison robes, leaving her lying on the cot as naked as the day she was born.

“Hmm, I wonder what we should do with this?” Harrick asked as he took the now red-hot poker from his mother. “I’d say gauge out her eyes, but I want her to watch everything we do to her.”

“Yes,” Neville agreed, as he took in her naked body and said, with an evil grin, “I’ve got an idea,” as he leaned over to Harrick and whispered in his ear.

Harrick’s grin got even bigger as he said, “Perfect,” as they enacted their plan and shivered in delight as Bella screamed.

Moving back over to their tools, Neville and Harrick each picked up a knife, and using the tweezers from earlier they began carefully cutting into the flesh of Bellatrix’s abdomen and then using the tweezers to pull back the skin, flaying her alive.

Revealing the muscles beneath the skin, they began cutting them away as Bella—whose eyes had begun tearing up despite her best efforts to remain defiant and not show any fear—could only watch in slowly dawning horror as the two young boys continued to work with surgical precision… gleaned from their many hours spent preparing ingredients for Eudora’s potions and performing dissections so that they could learn every facet of anatomy.

Over an hour later, her voice hoarse from screaming, Bellatrix finally screamed, “No more! Please… no more! Sweet Circe and Morgana’s sagging tits, JUST KILL ME ALREADY!!”

Harrick and Neville turned and looked at each other for a moment before they looked at Morticia and then back at Bellatrix.

In perfect unison, they said, “Nah.”

Turning their back to her, they packed up their tools and prepared to leave, as Morticia said, “Have fun bleeding out, Bella. I’m sure a Dementor will be here soon to put you out of your misery, but in the meantime, enjoy the pain and know that you deserve each and every glorious moment of it for your abominable actions.”

-o-0-o-

To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have Ch3 of ‘The Brothers Addams’. Yes, that got pretty dark at the end. And while I did write some torture, I also remained vague in places. If you have a strong stomach and are curious, read the description of Jack the Ripper’s murder of Mary Kelly to know exactly what prompted Bella to beg to die.
> 
> The story will soon be entering the year 1987. That means that once their birthdays fall, the ages of the Addams children will be: Wednesday, 10; Pugsley, 8; Neville and Harrick, 7; and Pubert, 6.
> 
> Let me know if there’s anything you’d particularly like to see in the story before the children start going off to Ilvermorny, as I don’t really plan on covering much at school until Neville and Harrick start. So once Wednesday starts school in September 1988 and Pugsley in September 1990, they’ll be effectively out of the story save for summers, letters home, or school breaks.
> 
> Not that I plan on covering their entire childhoods, as the story will go on forever if I do that, but a few snapshots here and there as they get older and closer to school age can’t hurt.


	4. Chapter 4

The Brothers Addams  
By J.C. Vascardi

-o-0-o-

Chapter Four

-o-0-o-

**_ December 30, 1986… _ **

The day after Bellatrix’s death—and she was dead as the Addamses had watched her being buried by the Dementors along with the other torture victims, Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange, Antonin Dolohov, Zoltan Travers, and Augustus Rookwood—Lumpy was reclining in a chair in the room that Sirius was recuperating in at the Knockturn flat.

He’d been in a healing coma for the last couple of days since his rescue as Hester felt that he needed some time for his body and mind to recover from the ordeal of five years in Azkaban.

Lumpy looked up when he heard a groan from the bed and saw that Sirius seemed to be waking up. Putting aside the book he’d been reading, he moved closer and watched as the handsome man opened his eyes and looked around.

It took a moment, but soon Sirius’s eyes locked onto Lumpy and he gasped slightly, as he asked, “Gideon? Fabian? Am I dead?”

“You are not dead,” Lumpy replied. “And I’m not Gideon or Fabian.”

Taking a closer look as he sat up, Sirius nodded and said, “You’re right, they didn’t have hunchbacks. You do look like them though… you could almost be their triplet.”

“It must be the old saying that everyone has a double somewhere then because I only have one sibling and he’s not my twin, as he’s six years older and very hirsute.”

“Hirsute?”

“He’s completely covered in hair from head to toe. So much so that if he’s standing up with his arms at his sides, you can’t see anything but his hair. In fact, in my twenty-five years, I don’t think I’ve ever even seen his face.”

 ** _‘Okay,’_** Sirius thought, not sure how to even respond to that. “Who are you? And where am I?”

“My name is Luciano Addams, although everyone has always called me Lumpy, for reasons which should be obvious. I’d prefer they didn’t but the nickname has stuck much to my chagrin.”

Shaking his head, he added, “As for where you are, you’re in my family’s flat in Knockturn Alley, above Borgin and Burkes.”

“I thought Old Man Borgin lived above the shop.”

Nodding, Luciano said, “He does. The shop is on the ground floor with offices and a storeroom in the basement at 13B Knockturn Alley. Arcturus Borgin’s flat, 13C, is on the first and second floors. We’re in 13A which is the third through fifth floors and the attic.”

“Ah, okay then,” Sirius said, as he looked around and asked, “Where are Morticia, Neville, and Harrick?”

“Still at Azkaban.”

The look on Sirius’s face was equal parts concerned, worried, and questioning, as he asked, “Why are they still there?”

“Family vacation until New Year’s Eve.”

“Vacation?” Sirius asked incredulously, sure that he had to have misheard that.

“Correct.”

“And why in Merlin’s name would they be vacationing at a prison?”

“Cousin Ekrizdis had an entire floor on the topmost level that the Ministry doesn’t know about,” Luciano answered. “Cold, stormy, dark, and depressing… it’s paradise, at least to an Addams.”

Sirius nodded. “Okay then. Lily told us some stories about her Aunt Morticia… that the family was gothic, dark, and macabre, but we never really believed her. Thought for sure she must be exaggerating.”

“Nope, doesn’t sound like it.”

“Just tell me this, please,” Sirius said. “My godsons are safe, right?”

Luciano nodded. “Oh of that you can be certain. Certain other members of your family, not so much.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, I believe she’s your cousin. Bellatrix Lestrange?”

“Unfortunately, yes, she is my cousin. What about her?”

“She’s dead,” Luciano said. “Her husband and brother-in-law, too.”

“Is there any Firewhisky in this place?” Sirius asked. “Because I’d really like to raise a glass to celebrate, as that’s the best news I’ve had in years.”

Pulling out his wand, Luciano pointed it at the open doorway and summoned a bottle and two glasses.

-o-0-o-

**_ January 2, 1987… _ **

About two days later, Sirius finally got to meet the rest of the Addams clan… or at least those of them that had been vacationing at Azkaban. He still had a bit of a hard time wrapping his head around the idea of anyone taking a vacation there of all places, but none of the family seemed any worse for the experience.

“Neville, Harrick, it’s good to see you,” Sirius said, as he pulled his godsons in for a hug, which they somewhat awkwardly returned.

Pulling back, he looked them both up and done for a moment, noting the differences that their blood-adoption into the Addams family had caused. They were far more subtle than those that had happened to Neville when he was blood-adopted by James and Lily.

Neville had blond hair and blue eyes before the adoption but got James’s black hair and Lily’s green eyes in the ritual. The second blood-adoption, however, had darkened Neville’s hair and dulled Lily’s green eyes, but they were still present. Which was perhaps a bit odd if only because both Gomez and Morticia had dark brown eyes.

“It’s good to see you too, um, I guess,” Harrick said. “I’m sorry if I don’t sound very enthusiastic, it’s just…”

“We don’t remember you,” Neville added.

Sirius sighed. “It’s okay, I understand. You were both very young the last time you saw me. I know I certainly don’t remember anything from when I was less than two years old. I think my earliest memory might be from when I was three, but even that’s just a vague impression. It isn’t until I was four that I can really remember much of anything clearly.”

“Yeah, it’s about the same for us,” Neville confirmed, as Harrick nodded.

“So, can I ask a question?” Sirius asked.

“Sure,” Harrick said.

“Why are you dressed like that?” Sirius asked. “The three-legged trousers I mean.”

As they took a seat on a pair of chairs across from where Sirius was sitting, Neville said, “We were magically connected through our scars when Voldemort tried to kill us.”

“Physically we’re still separate,” Harrick added. “But, the magical connection creates a side effect similar to some really rare magical disease that usually affects twins.”

“Basically, we have to maintain nearly constant skin-on-skin contact or we suffer debilitating pain,” Neville revealed. “We do occasionally stop touching and tough out the pain as long as we can.”

“Madam Pomfrey says that the amount of time we can be apart will increase as we get older,” Harrick said. “But that it will likely never go much beyond two or three hours at a time. Maybe an hour or two more at most if we can reach a point where we can inure ourselves to the pain and still function despite it.”

“Madam Pomfrey has cautioned us against trying to do that too much though,” Neville said. “Of course, she’s also never treated an Addams.” Sharing a grin with Harrick, he turned back to Sirius and said, “We’re incredibly resilient and have a high pain tolerance, simply because Addamses find a certain amount of pain to be pleasurable.”

Sirius was quiet for a moment, before he said, “Okay, well, I’m going to trust that the two of you know your limits better than I do. Just promise me that you won’t intentionally put your lives in jeopardy.”

“We promise,” Harrick said truthfully. “While we do enjoy pain, decay, and death, we both agree that we don’t want to give up living anytime soon.”

“That’s good,” Sirius said.

“You’re going to find this out eventually,” Neville said after a moment of silence. “So you may as well find out from us. Another reason for the three-legged trousers is because we’re amputees.”

“Wait, what?” Sirius asked, surprised.

“Amputees,” Harrick said, as he pulled up his and Neville’s middle trouser leg to reveal their custom shared prosthetic.

Sirius stared for several minutes, before he asked, “How did this happen?”

“After James and Lily died,” Neville replied, “we spent exactly one month in the care of Lily’s sister Petunia and her husband, Vernon. The day we were brought to our parents—that is Gomez and Morticia—Vernon chopped our legs off just below the knee.”

“The Dursleys didn’t know about the magical disease,” Harrick said in the silence that followed. “So they didn’t know that we had to maintain skin contact and apparently our crying drove Vernon crazy enough to do what he did.”

“I’ll kill the bastard,” Sirius said, as his nostrils flared with obvious anger. “I’ll kill him.”

“Too late,” Neville said with a grin. “Aunt Minnie already beat you to it.”

“What?” Sirius asked confused. “Aunt Minnie? Another Addams?”

Shaking his head, Harrick said, “Nope. Minerva McGonagall. She says that our placement with the Dursleys never sat well with her, so after a month, she came to check on us. After stunning and tying up Petunia, she did a locator spell and found us in the basement.”

“She walked in right after Vernon had chopped our legs off,” Neville picked up. “And dropped them in acid, which is why Aunt Poppy wasn’t able to save and reattach them, even though she was treating us within the time frame that would normally have been possible with magic.”

“Professor McGonagall killed your uncle?” Sirius asked, ignoring the mention of Aunt Poppy as he tried to imagine his old Transfiguration professor and Head of House killing someone. She’d always been strict and very stern, but he’d never imagined her reaching a point where she’d kill someone.

Nodding, Harrick said, “Yup. Hit him with a Killing Curse and then called Aunt Poppy.”

“Poppy Pomfrey?” Sirius asked, deciding to double-check, as he grappled with his suddenly very different view of his old professor.

Oh, he was very happy that she’d done it. The bastard deserved so much more than a quick and painless death. But, it was still a bit hard to wrap his mind around because the Minerva McGonagall that he knew was not one to go around casting Unforgivable Curses.

“Yup,” Neville and Harrick said in unison.

In the years since Minerva had brought them to live with Gomez and Morticia, Minerva and Poppy, along with their husbands, Elphinstone and Warrick, had become honorary members of the Addams family.

They frequently came over for dinner and all of the Addams children had taken to calling them Aunt Minnie, Aunt Poppy, Uncle Elphinstone, and Uncle Warrick. The four of them had been a bit hesitant at first when it came to the full extent of what being an Addams meant, but after a few months, while not necessarily embracing it themselves, decided that they didn’t have any problem with Neville, Harrick, or their siblings doing it.

As long as they were safe, happy, and healthy that was all that really mattered right? Even if the children enjoyed playing with knives, axes, swords, explosives, and various torture devices…

“Boys?” Morticia asked as she glided into the room. Smiling at Sirius she said, “Ah, hello Sirius.”

“Morticia,” Sirius said with a nod of his head. “Good to see you again.”

“You too,” Morticia said, as she turned to Harrick and Neville and said, “Boys, we should get going to Gringotts.”

Harrick and Neville stood up, as Sirius asked, “Gringotts?”

“We conducted a séance on Christmas Eve,” Harrick answered. “Made contact with Nev’s and my birth parents.”

Sirius perked up at this as Neville added, “Among other things they said they left inheritances for us at Gringotts and asked that we exhume their graves.”

“Exhume their graves?” Sirius asked.

“They want to be buried back in the states,” Morticia said. “In the Addams family cemetery on the grounds of our estate. So that Harrick and Neville can visit without coming to another country.”

“Ah, I see,” Sirius said. “So you live in the states?”

Nodding, Morticia said, “Yes. We have several houses, but our main family home is in Fall River, Massachusetts.”

“Okay then,” Sirius said. “I’ll need to visit Gringotts myself at some point, but I suppose it’s probably not a good idea right now, while I’m still a wanted man.”

“Probably not,” Morticia agreed. “Is there anybody you could contact about getting a trial?”

“Possibly yes,” Sirius answered. “My Grandfather Arcturus is Lord Black… so he’s got a hereditary seat on the Wizengamot. With my father dead, I’d be next in line as his heir, although with me being imprisoned, I imagine he’s named his cousin Pollux or his son Cygnus as the heir. Although, it’s unlikely that Pollux will have more sons at his age and Cygnus only has daughters, so my grandfather might be willing to help me if having an heir who can carry on the family name matters to him.”

“Well then, while we’re gone,” Morticia said, “why don’t you write a letter to him and we can post it before we head back home? Until you actually get a trial, you’ll probably be safer in America anyway, as MACUSA rescinded their extradition treaty with the British Ministry in protest when Grindelwald escaped custody back in the late 1920s.”

Sirius nodded in agreement, as he followed Morticia and the boys from the room so that he could seek out parchment and a quill while they headed to the bank.

-o-0-o-

Half-an-hour later, Gomez and Morticia Addams entered the lobby of Gringotts’ Bank along with Neville and Harrick, who were currently wearing black cloaks with the hoods pulled up to hide their faces and more importantly their scars.

Making their way to a free teller, the family waited while the goblin, Master Teller Rocksmash, finished writing something in his ledger before he looked up and asked, “How may Gringotts help you today?”

“May your enemies drown in their own blood, Master Rocksmash,” Gomez said in fluent Gobbledygook.

The goblin was surprised, as it was the rare witch or wizard who knew the proper forms for speaking to a goblin. Ever rarer were those who could actually speak their language. It didn’t show on his face, however, as he said, “May your gold always flow, Mr.…”

“Gomez Addams, to see the Addams family account manager,” Gomez said, as he handed over the key to the Addams vault, along with a slip of parchment asking to also see the Longbottom and Potter family account managers for “an important matter of family business.”

“Very well,” Rocksmash said. “Griphook!”

Another goblin appeared as Rocksmash said, “Show Mr. Addams and his party to Secure Conference Room 13 and tell Account Managers Farnok, Lurnast, and Scarclaw that they’ve got customers to see.”

Griphook nodded before he motioned to Gomez and his party and said, “Follow me.”

-o-0-o-

Twenty minutes later, the Addams family account manager, Farnok, said, “May your enemies die horrible deaths, Mr. Addams.”

“May you drench your enemies’ lands with their blood,” Gomez returned.

After similar exchanges between Gomez and the Longbottom account manager, Lurnast, and the Potter account manager, Scarclaw, it was the latter who asked, “Why did you wish to see Lurnast and me, Mr. Addams? We can’t discuss the Longbottom and Potter accounts with you.”

Gesturing to Neville and Harrick, who put down their hoods at this, he said, “May I present my blood-adopted sons, Neville and Harrick Addams… born Neville Longbottom and Harrick Potter.”

“Ah, I see,” Lurnast said, as he stroked his beard. “There’s an inheritance in the Longbottom vaults for Neville.”

“And for Harrick,” Scarclaw said. “Of course, their blood-adoptions do complicate things, if only slightly, since they are now Addamses by law, blood, and magic. Still, we do have a test which can confirm their lineage… that will have to be done before we go any further.”

Gomez nodded. “Yes, my wife Morticia and I expected as much. Neville and Harrick are willing to do the test.” Turning to Farnok, he said, “I would have come to see you at the New York branch, Farnok, but since I’m here, I’d like to open trust vaults for Neville and Harrick. I’ve been meaning to do so since we adopted them five years ago but other more pressing matters diverted my attention.”

Reaching into the pocket of his black and white striped suit, Gomez pulled out two brown leather bags which he tossed on the table in front of Farnok. From the noise they produced, it was clear they were full of coins.

“I trust 10,000 doubloons for each of them is enough to start with?” Gomez asked.

“That’s more than satisfactory, Mr. Addams,” Farnok said, as he took the two bags which were obviously charmed to be weightless and hold way more than their size would suggest as neither bag looked anywhere near large enough to hold 10,000 gold coins. “I’ll get started on the paperwork right away.”

As this business was handled, Scarclaw pulled two pieces of parchment and placed them on the table in front of Harrick and Neville.

Pulling out a knife, Lurnast said, “We’ll need seven drops of blood from both of them.”

Gomez and Morticia nodded, as Neville took the knife and calmly cut one of his fingertips, dripping seven drops of blood onto the parchment in front of him, before Harrick did the same.

A few moments later, Scarclaw nodded and said, “The residual signature test confirms that Harrick Draven Addams was originally Harrick James Potter.”

It took a little bit longer for Neville’s results, due to him having undergone two blood-adoptions, but finally, Lurnast said, “And Neville Daemon Addams is confirmed to have been both Neville Preston Longbottom and Neville Preston Potter.”

“Gotta say I like my current middle name much better,” Neville said, as Harrick nodded and said, “Me too.”

“A consequence of the blood-adoptions means that Neville and Harrick can never inherit the lordships of the Longbottom or Potter families," Scarclaw said. “Seeing as how they’re no longer recognized as being members of those families, by blood, law, or magic.”

“Fine by me,” Harrick said. “I’m perfectly happy being an Addams.”

“Same,” Neville said. “I have no desire to be anything else. And I won’t complain about never having to attend Wizengamot meetings in the future.”

“Just out of curiosity, who will be the next lords?” Morticia asked.

Stroking his beard, Scarclaw answered. “Harrick’s former granduncle, Charlus Potter, younger brother of his former grandfather, the late Lord Fleamont Potter, has been serving as Lord-Regent of the Potter family since Lord James Potter died. With Harrick removed from the succession, Charlus will now become Lord Potter in his own right.”

“Cool,” Harrick said. “Don’t want it.”

Gomez patted his son on the back, proud of him for knowing exactly what he wanted and didn’t want.

“As for the Longbottoms,” Lurnast said, “with all of the adult members of the family dead, there currently isn’t a Lord Longbottom or a regent because the latter requires somebody over the age of seventeen who was born into the family. With Neville being an Addams now, there are only two living members of the family, his twin third cousins, Jasper and Jesse Longbottom. And they’re only nine years old.”

“Their great-grandparents, Newton and Porpentina Scamander,” Scarclaw added, “act as their guardians and Newton as the Longbottom proxy. So he votes the family seat in the Wizengamot and makes various decisions that can’t wait until the heir, Jasper, is old enough.”

Farnok cleared his throat at this and said, “The papers are ready for your signature, Mr. Addams.”

Gomez nodded as he picked up the blood quill and began signing the contracts. Most people hated the things, but Gomez loved them. While Gomez was signing the papers, Lurnast and Scarclaw excused themselves to get the Gringotts copies of the Longbottom and Potter wills so that they could determine what Neville’s and Harrick’s inheritances would consist of.

-o-0-o-

About half-an-hour later, Lurnast and Scarclaw returned with the wills. Since Neville was older by a day, it was decided that the Longbottom will would be read first. Harrick rolled his eyes at this but didn’t complain, as honestly he was used to it.

Setting a small glass orb on a stand in the middle of the table, Lurnast tapped the top of it, as it went from clear to cloudy as red and gold smoke swirled inside of it for a moment. The smoke soon poured out of the top of the orb and coalesced into the ghostly visage of Frank Longbottom.

“I, Franklin Bryant Longbottom, Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Longbottom, being of sound mind, memory, and understanding and mindful of the uncertainties of life, do on this date, 15 July 1980, hereby make, publish, and declare this to be my Last Will and Testament, hereby revoking all former wills and codicils by me made.”

Waving his hand over the orb, the visage of Frank froze as Lurnast said, “Article One deals with naming an executor—his solicitor now deceased with me as the backup—and Article Two deals with the custody for minor children. I think we can all agree that we can skip ahead to the section dealing with Neville’s inheritance.”

Gomez and Morticia nodded in agreement, as did Neville and Harrick, as nobody cared to sit here any longer than necessary. And it didn’t really make much sense to go through any bequests left for people who were either dead or not present to hear them.

Tapping the top of the orb, Lurnast said, “Skip to Neville bequest.”

The visage of Frank blurred for a moment, before clearing and then spoke.

“To my son and heir, Neville Preston Longbottom, I herewith will, devise and bequeath the entire contents of my personal vault, Number 7114, and his choice of up to ten items taken from each of the Longbottom family vaults numbered 7107 to 7113.”

“Furthermore, if my wife and Neville’s mother, Alice Longbottom née Barnes, has predeceased me then I herewith will, devise, and bequeath the entire contents of Alice’s personal vault, Number 7115.”

“If Alice and I should die before Neville has achieved his majority, then all monetary assets shall be moved to his trust vault, Number 7116. The trust will pay for all expenses related to his schooling and upkeep, in addition to granting him an allowance of four galleons per week until he starts school and going up to eight galleons per week thereafter. He shall gain full access to everything in the trust upon reaching the age of seventeen.”

The visage of Frank disappeared at this, as Neville asked, “When it says I can take ten items, does that mean ten total or up to ten items from each of those vaults? What’s even in them, by the way?”

“Up to ten from each vault,” Lurnast answered. “As for what’s in them, I can get you a full itemized accounting to aid you in making your selections. In addition to the personal vaults of each family member, there are actually eight family vaults that contain different things. You weren’t granted anything from Vault 7106, for example, which is the gold vault.”

“Although if the Longbottom vaults are anything like the Potter vaults,” Scarclaw said, “then there’s a quarterly deposit from the family gold vault into your trust vault.”

Nodding, Lurnast said, “That’s correct. There’s an automatic deposit of 100 galleons per quarter to the trust vault from the family gold vault. Despite his blood adoptions, that will continue until he reaches the age of majority.”

Lurnast paused, before he said, “In order, starting from 7107 and ending in 7113, the other vaults are the Jewel Vault, which holds family jewelry and precious gemstones, the Artifact Vault, which holds the family’s collection of magical artifacts, the Furniture Vault, which as you might guess holds furniture, the Artwork vault, which I trust is self-explanatory, the Library Vault, again rather obvious, the Weapon and Armor Vault, which holds as you can probably guess a collection of weapons and armor, and finally the Miscellaneous Vault, which serves as a catch-all for anything that doesn’t specifically fall into the individual categories of the other vaults.”

“Do I have to make my selections right away or can I take my time?”

“You can take your time,” Lurnast replied. “While Newton Scamander is acting as the Longbottom proxy, he can’t void the last Lord Longbottom’s will. Of course, once your birth cousin Jasper becomes Lord Longbottom, he could void provisions or veto your selections. But as long as you select them before he ascends to the lordship in eight years from now, he has no say.”

“Cool, well, if you could get me the itemized lists, I’ll look over them and see if there’s anything I want,” Neville said. “Will there be descriptions of the items on the lists or can I view the items that look interesting?”

“There will be brief descriptions,” Lurnast answered. “And you’re more than welcome to view anything that looks interesting before you make your selections. And we can do that at any of the branch offices in America, such as New York or Mt. Greylock.”

“Cool,” Neville said, as Lurnast put away the orb containing Frank’s will since they were done now.

A moment later, another orb was ready, as the ghostly visage of James Potter appeared in the air and after the obligatory opening of him stating that he was of sound mind and that this was last will and testament, Scarclaw tapped the orb and said, “Skip to Harrick bequest.”

“To my son and heir, Harrick James Potter, I herewith will, devise and bequeath the entire contents of my personal vault, Number 7266, and his choice of up to seven items from within each of the Potter family vaults numbered 7259 to 7265.”

Neville grinned and was about to say that he’d gotten a larger inheritance in that he’d been allowed to pick ten items from each vault instead of only seven when the visage of James continued speaking.

“Furthermore, if my darling wife and Harrick’s mother, Lily Potter née Evans, has predeceased me or if the worst has happened and we’ve both died then I herewith will, devise, and bequeath the entire contents of Lily’s personal vault, Number 7267, to Harrick and his choice of five more items from each of the above mentioned Potter family vaults.”

“All monetary assets shall be moved to his trust vault, Number 7268. The trust will pay for all expenses related to his schooling and upkeep, in addition to granting him an allowance of six galleons per week until he starts school and going up to twelve galleons per week thereafter. He shall gain full access to everything in the trust upon reaching the age of seventeen.”

As the visage of James disappeared, it was Harrick’s turn to grin as he turned to Neville and said, “Looks like I got more than you.”

Neville sighed. “Apparently so.”

Wrapping an arm around Neville’s shoulder and pulling him close, Harrick said, “Oh don’t look so upset. We share practically everything anyway.” Turning to Scarclaw, he asked, “I assume one of those Potter vaults is a furniture vault?”

Scarclaw nodded. “Yes. Number 7261. All of the vaults Lurnast mentioned are included among the Potter family vaults, just different numbers, obviously.”

“See Nev?” Harrick asked. “How many pieces of furniture can you think of that we won’t be sharing?”

Neville grinned and said, “Not many. Certainly nothing that can be sat on or laid upon.”

“And that brings the Potter will to a close,” Scarclaw said. “I can send you an itemized accounting of the contents of all the vaults, though it may take a couple of days to prepare.”

“Same,” Lurnast said.

“That’s fine,” Gomez said. “Just send it along to Farnok at the New York branch and he’ll get it to us.”

The three goblins nodded in agreement before the meeting came to a close. Neville and Harrick replaced their hoods, before following their parents out of the bank through a side entrance that came out on Knockturn Alley.

-o-0-o-

Before he left the bank, Gomez obtained an international portkey from the goblins for two reasons. One was so that the Ministry couldn’t trace Sirius to America… as they’d be able to if he used the Floo Network, as all international Floo travel was monitored.

The other was so that they could transport the coffins containing the remains of James, Lily, Frank, and Alice back for reburial… again, for the same reason. They didn’t need the British Ministry asking questions about why they were transporting coffins through the Floo, as that would undoubtedly lead to questions as to who was in said coffins.

Tricky business considering that it was unlikely they’d ever be able to get permission to exhume the four graves. Sure, the spirits whose bodies they were exhuming had given their permission, but it was unlikely that the government would do the same.

Later that night, Gomez and Lurch, accompanied by Wednesday, Pugsley, Neville, Harrick, and Pubert entered the cemetery in the village of Godric’s Hollow. Since they purposely waited until after midnight, the village was deserted, although just to be safe Gomez tossed a pinch of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder over his shoulder as he crossed through the cemetery gate, shrouding it in darkness.

Since they’d scouted out the cemetery beforehand, they knew that the main gate was the only entrance, so once it was shrouded in darkness, Gomez dropped the Disillusionment Charms he’d placed on everyone as they moved further in to the cemetery.

“It’s a good thing that the Longbottom and Potter family crypts were full,” Gomez whispered. “As it would have been impossible for us to do this if they were interred there.”

“Wards?” Wednesday asked, softly.

“Yes, very powerful ones from what your mother said,” Gomez answered. “Just getting onto the property undetected would have been impossible, let alone into the crypt itself.”

“Here are the Potters,” Pubert said, as he spotted the grave of James and Lily Potter.

“Okay, Lurch, Wednesday, Pugsley start digging,” Gomez said. “The rest of us are going to go get Frank and Alice.”

Lurch nodded, as he, Wednesday, and Pugsley put their shovels into the ground and began digging. Gomez, Neville, Harrick, and Pubert, meanwhile, moved further into the cemetery knowing that Frank and Alice Longbottom were laid to rest three rows behind the Potters and about seven graves to the right.

Reaching Frank and Alice’s grave, Pubert looked down at the next grave over and said, “Looks like Frank and Alice aren’t the only Longbottoms buried here.”

“I see that,” Gomez said, as he spied the grave of Harold and Augusta Longbottom to the right of Frank and Alice’s grave.

“There’s a Harfang and Callidora on this side,” Neville said as he spied a grave to the left.”

Peering through the darkness at the next row of graves, Harrick said, “And there’s Algernon and Cordelia Longbottom and Warrick and Rosalina Longbottom.”

“Best leave them all undisturbed,” Gomez said. “We weren’t asked to move their graves, so it would be wrong to do so.”

Nodding, Pubert said, “Yes, and one of those couples might be Jasper’s and Jesse’s parents… no need to make enemies of the future Lord Longbottom if we can avoid it.”

“Indeed,” Neville said, as he, Harrick, Pubert, and Gomez all began digging.

About an hour later they had all four coffins dug up, at which point Gomez shrank them for easy transport out of the cemetery. He also cast a spell to level the ground, as each grave had a visible ditch due to the removal of the coffins. His last spell, before they left the cemetery, cleaned the surrounding snow, leaving it the same pristine white it had been when they arrived.

They opted to leave the headstones, so, if Lady Luck was on their side, it would be Spring before anyone realized that the graves had been disturbed. And by then they’d be long gone.

-o-0-o-

To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have Ch4 of ‘The Brothers Addams’. I hope you’re enjoying the story thus far. I made ‘Lumpy’ a nickname because while I know that some of the Addams characters have rather odd names, I always thought it was kind of cruel to name a kid that just because they were born with a hunchback.
> 
> Some of the original characters from my other works were mentioned in this chapter, such as Jasper and Jesse Longbottom. That’s likely to continue to be the case in the future, since with Neville and Harrick going to Ilvermorny, obviously, that’s going to mean several OCs because we don’t have canon Ilvermorny professors or students for the 1991-1998 time frame that they attended school. So some of my OCs will be repurposed as Americans attending Ilvermorny instead of Hogwarts.


	5. Chapter 5

The Brothers Addams  
By J.C. Vascardi

-o-0-o-

Chapter Five

-o-0-o-

**_ January 4, 1987… _ **

Two days later, Lord Arcturus Black, was seated in the conservatory at the Black family manse, Arlington Grange, along with his wife of sixty-five years, Melania. They were listening to Celestina Warbeck on the Wizarding Wireless and enjoying cups of tea when suddenly a vulture flew into the room through the charmed glass panel that allowed for post owls to enter the room.

Setting down her teacup, Melania tilted her head to one side as she said, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a vulture deliver mail before.”

“There’s only one family that I know of that uses them,” Arcturus said as he set his own cup on a nearby end table. “I’ve had a few business dealings with their European branch over the years, although it’s my understanding that their main branch is based out of the colonies.”

“And what family is that?”

“The Addams family,” Arcturus said, as he reached down and took the missive from the bird’s leg. “They’re an old pureblood line of Castilian extraction. Politically and socially gray for the most part, with a gothic flair and love for all things macabre, who openly make use of branches of magic that the British Ministry classifies as the dark arts.”

Melania nodded but said nothing, as nothing needed to be said. It was an ongoing point of contention with the Ministry and certain pureblood families in that they loved to classify things as dark… oftentimes going overboard in the number of things that they labeled as such.

Picking up her teacup and taking a sip, Melania watched as Arcturus broke the seal on the letter, opened it, and began reading.

> **_Dear grandfather,_ **
> 
> **_I write to you in the hopes that you might be able to assist me. I am innocent of all charges laid against me… charges which I’ve spent the last five years in Azkaban for, without ever receiving a trial of any kind._ **
> 
> **_Peter Pettigrew is an unregistered rat Animagus and in hindsight, I perhaps should have realized what that said about his character. He was the Potter Secret Keeper, and when I confronted him for selling out our friends, he’s the one who cast the Blasting Curse that killed those muggles, not me._ **
> 
> **_He cast an overpowered Tickling Hex on me so that I’d be laughing uncontrollably when the Aurors showed up, before cutting off his finger and leaving it behind when he transformed into his rat form and crawled down a sewer drain, leaving me to take the fall for the deaths of the muggles and his murder._ **
> 
> **_I was never asked a single question following my arrest. They just took my wand and shipped me off to Azkaban where I’ve remained until a few days ago. I escaped with the assistance of the family who owns the vulture that brought you this letter. It’s been instructed to wait for your reply, although by the time you receive this, I will no longer be in the country, as I’ll be going to the colonies._ **
> 
> **_Signed,  
>  _ ** **_Your grandson, Sirius_ **

“What does it say?” Melania asked after a few moments of watching her husband read, noting his face getting harder as he did so.

Without saying a word, Arcturus simply handed the letter off to his wife. When she looked up after reading it, her own face hard and the anger clearly glinting in her eyes, Arcturus said, “If this is true, then heads will roll!”

-o-0-o-

**_ January 5, 1987… _ **

The day after receiving the missive from Sirius by which time he’d already left the country with the Addamses, Lord and Lady Black, dressed in their finest, Flooed into the Ministry for Magic and breezing past the security desk, boarded a lift.

They had decided to pay a visit to Madam Amelia Bones, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, as she was known to be fair and have a strong sense of justice. They hoped that it would be enough to have Sirius’s case re-opened for an examination of the facts… if not, however, they were prepared to go to Minister Bagnold’s office.

Entering Amelia’s outer office, her secretary nodded and said, “Ah, Lord and Lady Black, welcome. Please have a seat. Madam Bones is running a little late this morning and is just finishing up another meeting. She’ll be with you shortly.”

Arcturus and Melania nodded as they took seats in the outer office to wait. About fifteen minutes later, the doors to Amelia’s office opened and a tall, black-haired wizard walked out of the room, Amelia following him.

“If you find out anything more, keep me apprised,” Amelia said to the man, who nodded before he silently left the office. Spying Arcturus and Melania, Amelia said, “Please come in,” before she asked her secretary to bring some tea.

Once Lord and Lady Black were seated in Amelia’s office, each with a cup of tea prepared to their liking, Amelia asked, “I apologize for running a bit late for our scheduled meeting. I had a rather unexpected, urgent visit from the Head Gaoler at Azkaban.”

“Really?” Arcturus asked.

“Yes, he had quite the surprise waiting for him upon his return to the island following the holiday break,” Amelia said. “It’s just the Dementors on the island from the day before Christmas Eve until the day after New Year, as it’s considered to be cruel and unusual punishment to make any of the human guards stay there over the holidays.”

“And what, if I might ask,” Melania said, “was the surprise he found waiting for him?”

“Seven fewer prisoners,” Amelia said. “Six of them are dead and a seventh has seemingly escaped.”

“Escaped, really?” Arcturus asked. “From Azkaban? Has that ever happened before?”

“Not to my knowledge no,” Amelia said as she took a sip of her tea and then said, “I’m afraid that I must ask, considering the identities of the escaped prisoner and one of the deceased, do you know anything about this matter, Lord and Lady Black?”

“Who died and who escaped?” Melania hedged. She already knew who had escaped of course, but she had no idea who might have died.

“One of the dead prisoners is your cousin Pollux’s granddaughter, Lord Black,” Amelia revealed. “Bellatrix Lestrange. And the escaped prisoner is your grandson, Sirius Black.”

Arcturus and Melania shared a look before Arcturus set aside his teacup and straightened up so that his back was ramrod straight, as he said, “I have information about my grandson, Madam Bones, which I think you will find very interesting.”

-o-0-o-

Half-an-hour later, an incensed Madam Amelia Bones was in the office of Minister for Magic Millicent Bagnold along with Lord and Lady Black.

“It’s outrageous!” Amelia raged. “Five years in Azkaban Prison, with no questioning, no check of his wand, and not even a trial! I’ve checked our records, Minister. The only evidence we have is derived from assumptions without any proof to back it up, mostly stemming from rumor and the fact that he was there.”

“What makes this an especially egregious miscarriage of justice, Minister,” Arcturus said, “is that Sirius became my legal heir when my son Orion died two years earlier. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that the other Lords of the Wizengamot will not be pleased with the idea that they or their heirs could have their wands snapped and be thrown in Azkaban to rot with no investigation and no trial.”

“It won’t just be the Lords of the Wizengamot that won’t be pleased,” Melania added. “Just think about the rest of the populace for a moment. How do you think they will react to this? If this can happen to the heir to one of the oldest and richest noble families in the country what possible protection could they have from the same treatment?”

Millicent nodded as she said, “You’re right, of course, in addition to being a grave miscarriage of justice, it’s also a public relations nightmare.” Shaking her head, she added, “I trusted that Director Crouch had done his due diligence, but now it seems that trust was misplaced.”

Amelia nodded as she knew that Minister Bagnold trusted the various Department Heads to do their jobs on their own without trying to micromanage them. It was a refreshing change from her predecessor, Harold Minchum, a hard-liner who routinely injected himself into every corner of the Ministry.

In fact, his need to micromanage everything is probably one of the reasons that he was unsuccessful in putting a stop to Voldemort. Everyone in the Ministry was so busy reporting their every move to him, and getting his approval on everything—including lunch and toilet breaks—that they didn’t have any time left to actually do their jobs.

With a sigh, Millicent turned to Lord and Lady Black and said, “I assure you that there will be a full investigation into this matter and if it can be proven that Heir Black is innocent of the charges laid against him, then we will dismiss any additional charges related to his escape from Azkaban. We will also give him appropriate compensation for the loss of his wand and the time spent in Azkaban.”

Arcturus nodded, satisfied with that, as Melania asked, “And if the investigation proves that he is guilty?”

She didn’t think that would be the case, but she wanted to be prepared for the outcome if she was wrong.

“Between the seriousness of the charges laid against him and adding escape from prison on top of it?” Millicent asked. “I’m afraid the Dementor’s Kiss would likely be the only option.”

-o-0-o-

**_ January 6, 1987… _ **

“Oh for fuck sake,” Albus muttered as he read the missive from Minister Bagnold.

To say that Albus was not a happy man would be the understatement of the century. All of his carefully laid plans were starting to unravel before his eyes and he didn’t like it.

First Arabella comes to him and tells him that she lost Neville and Harrick Potter.

Now, not only had Sirius Black escaped, but his lord grandfather, Amelia Bones, and the Minister were pushing for an investigation and a trial.

 ** _‘Well, thankfully, I was careful,’_** Albus thought. **_‘And covered my tracks well. There’s nothing that points to me being involved with Black not getting a trial.’_**

This much was true as if anyone ever questioned why the Chief Warlock had never pushed for a trial for Sirius Black, they’d find out that over a year before James and Lily died, Albus Dumbledore had recused himself from personally handling any cases involving the members of the Order of the Phoenix, citing a conflict of interest.

Of course, just because he didn’t publically call for a trial, didn’t mean that he wasn’t involved in making sure that Black never did get one. It’s just that there was no evidence to prove that.

Well, other than what existed in his own head. But, as a Master Legilimens and Occlumens, nobody was getting into his head that way anytime soon.

And then there was the unpublished thirteenth use for Dragon’s Blood… one of the active ingredients in a highly useful and untraceable potion that rendered the drinker temporarily immune to not only Veritaserum, but the Truth Spell, compulsion, or any other form of mind magic—including Legilimency and the Imperius Curse—for an entire week after imbibing it.

There was an antidote to Veritaserum that was usually given to cancel its effect that could be drunk before taking the Truth Serum to render it ineffective. Of course, that only worked if you drank the antidote within an hour of being administered Veritaserum. Any longer and it lost its protective effect.

Steepling his fingers, Albus smiled to himself as he thought, **_‘Too bad nobody knows about the use for Dragon’s Blood, since I put it under the Fidelius after discovering it with myself as Secret Keeper. Seeing as how I’ve never told anybody that secret, I’m the only one who knows about it.’_**

Albus paused as he poured himself a cup of tea. ** _‘It’s not like the Ministry would have allowed such a potion to be marketed anyway. Not if it meant taking away their ability to question criminals and be relatively sure they were telling the truth.’_**

No, he’d arranged things so that it looked like it was entirely Bartemius Crouch Sr. who made sure that Sirius never got a trial. If he took the fall, Albus didn’t really care, considering that Barty had no memories of the conversations in which he’d manipulated the former Head of the DMLE to do his bidding.

The thought of manipulating the current one and the Minister did briefly cross his mind, but he dismissed it because they were both very strong-willed women and while Albus was sure he could break them if given enough time, he didn’t see a benefit to spending the time necessary to do it.

Now that he thought about it, Sirius being in Azkaban wasn’t all that important anymore anyway. Not with Neville and Harrick missing and Gods only knew where.

It just galled Albus that something he’d spent time plotting and putting into motion was unraveling.

 ** _‘Oh well,’_** Albus thought. **_‘They’ll undoubtedly look into who cast the Fidelius Charm for the Potters… Not that they’ll find anything, as I made sure of that. Oh, won’t poor Molly be in for a shock if she ever finds out that it was her?’_**

Wanting no chance of it coming back to him someday, Albus had made sure that his plans for James and Lily going into hiding under the Fidelius didn’t involve him being their Secret Keeper or the one who cast the charm in the first place.

Molly Weasley had been very easy to manipulate. Having spent a large portion of the seventies and early eighties pregnant or raising children, she’d felt somewhat useless in terms of doing her part to aid the war effort. So, it had been a very easy sell for Albus to convince her to cast the Fidelius Charm to hide James, Lily, Neville, and Harrick.

Not that she remembered doing it, since less than an hour later, after getting her alone, Albus Obliviated her. Thus, the only people who knew that it had been Molly that cast the Fidelius, were Albus and the people that had been in the room when it was cast: James, Lily, Peter, and Molly herself.

Well, technically, Neville and Harrick had also been there, but they were less than a week old at the time and were highly unlikely to have any memories of it.

So, with James and Lily dead, Neville and Harrick way too young, and both Molly and Peter Obliviated—and the Fidelius being one of the rare spells that didn’t show up when Priori Incantato was cast—there wasn’t a soul who could tell anyone who had actually cast the Fidelius Charm for the Potters.

Well, Albus could, but he had no intention of doing so. Molly and Peter were still useful to him, after all, so he wasn’t going to remove them from the board just yet.

Not until they’d fulfilled their roles in the greater good.

-o-0-o-

Meanwhile, back in Massachusetts, Sirius was settling into the Addams mansion. He supposed that if he hadn’t grown up at Grimmauld Place, he might have had more difficulty in getting used to or accepted the décor.

However, after growing up in a house with lots of blacks or other dark-colored wallpaper, house-elf heads mounted on the walls, and a severed troll’s leg turned umbrella stand, nothing in the Addams house really phased him.

Well, okay, that wasn’t totally true, as he’d jumped several feet when one of the rugs started growling when he accidentally stepped on its tail. He then learned from Neville and Harrick that the polar bearskin rug was named Bruno. They also warned that while he usually just growled at people that walked on him that Bruno sometimes also bit people’s legs and feet if they walked a little too close to his head.

The stuffed boar’s head was also a bit odd, considering that it, like the rug, was still alive in some sense. Sirius assumed that it was magically animated, similar to a wizard’s portrait. And then there was the stuffed swordfish head with a man’s leg sticking out of it. Sirius had to admit it was a little bit disconcerting when he found out that the leg had actually belonged to a member of the family, Farouk Addams.

Still, all in all, despite their more unique tastes, Sirius found a family that did truly love one another… even if the children did tend to show that love for one another by trying to murder each other. Sirius would have been shocked by that, but then again, he and Regulus had played similar games as children, so he didn’t think he had room to talk.

“So you actually add poison to your food?” Sirius asked at breakfast.

“And drinks, too,” Pubert said. “A favorite is Grandmama’s henbane tea, mixed with Firewhisky.”

“In small amounts, yes,” Neville confirmed. “It adds flavor.”

“Also helps build up resistance to it,” Harrick added. “We add various snake and insect venoms, too. Otherwise, I think what we eat is pretty standard fare to what other people eat.”

“Yes, it is,” Sirius agreed as he ate the full English breakfast that Hester had fixed him. Of course, there was a magical twist to the meal, as it included fried cockatrice eggs and dragon sausages dipped in molasses.

He was drinking a cup of tea with it, which had been sweetened with sugared ash. According to Hester it was actually the ashes of a bezoar mixed with sugar and was the family’s preferred sweetener. It was sweet with a small hint of savory that Sirius didn’t think he’d like at first, but was actually pleasantly surprised.

“Until you’ve built up some poison resistance,” Morticia said, “you may want to add a bit more sugared ash to your food and drink than you normally would. As it will help neutralize the poison until your body gets used to it and can digest it without issue.”

“Of course, the amounts we use aren’t actually lethal doses,” Eudora said. “But it’s enough that with continued ingestion over time, your body will build up resistance to it.”

“Plus, it just makes things taste better,” Hester said. “I pity the No-Majs who think that poisons have no taste or find them bitter. They just don’t know how to properly prepare them. If they did, they’d know that some of them are quite delicious.”

“They also don’t have the benefit of magic, Mama,” Morticia said, as she nibbled on a piece of toast. Turning to Sirius, she said, “That does make ingesting it easier on the body.”

Sirius nodded but kept his mouth shut. He’d never heard this before, but they’d said it with such conviction that he thought it best to take their words for it, rather than argue with the people who’d gotten him out of that hell hole. They were all still living, after all, and despite being a bit pale—which Sirius was himself after five years in Azkaban—they all seemed strong and healthy.

Besides Sirius was willing to do whatever he needed to do to be there for Neville and Harrick from now on, so if that meant getting used to eating food laced with low doses of poison and venom, or sugar with bezoar ash then so be it. He had to admit that the food he’d eaten since getting out of Azkaban had all been delicious.

Of course, just about anything was an improvement over the barely lukewarm, watery gruel mixed with foul-tasting nutrition potions that were served at Azkaban.

-o-0-o-

**_ January 7, 1987… _ **

“Ah, Millicent, how lovely to see you,” said President Robert Roche, as his British counterpart stepped out of his fireplace. “Cameron and I thank you for the lovely wedding gift you sent us.”

Millicent nodded. “You’re quite welcome. I hope the two of you enjoyed your honeymoon.”

“What’s not to enjoy about two weeks in Hawaii?”

“Indeed, I’m sure it’s lovely this time of year,” Millicent said, “Assuming that is you actually saw much of it, considering how young and virile Cameron is.”

Robert nodded, as a slight blush appeared on his cheeks. “We did spend a fair amount of time in the hotel, yes.”

Robert had been the first unmarried President of MACUSA to be elected since current Ilvermorny Headmistress Seraphina Picquery had been elected back in 1920. There were some—his chief political advisor, for example—who thought it would be political suicide when two years into his first term in office, the thirty-three-year-old widower had announced his engagement to his nineteen-year-old secretary, Cameron Wilkinson.

However, the magical populace didn’t seem to care, with many high profile members of American wizarding society congratulating him on the match. The Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the New York Ghost had even written an op-ed in his own paper calling out any detractors as not having a romantic bone in their bodies and calling Robert and Cameron one of the most handsome couples he’d seen in years.

Robert glanced down at the picture of his now-former secretary and smiled, before shaking his head and saying, “Anyway, I’m sure you didn’t come all the way from London to discuss my marriage. So, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I have reason to believe that an escaped prisoner from Azkaban has made it to your shores.”

Robert sat up straighter at this, as he asked, “From Azkaban? What did this prisoner do?”

Millicent sighed. “If you’d asked me that question only a few days ago, I would have had a very different answer. Now, all I can say is that I’m honestly not sure.”

Robert’s face was the very picture of confusion, although Millicent didn’t elaborate further. Instead, she just said, “At the moment, I’m not looking to actually recapture them… only to question them. I know we don’t have an extradition treaty, after all.”

“MACUSA stands ready to assist in any way it can, Millicent. Is there anything you can tell me?”

“The prisoner’s name is Sirius Black,” Millicent said. “He’s the grandson and heir to a hereditary Lord of the Wizengamot, so I’d appreciate it if this could be done quietly. We have reason to believe that he might be receiving aid from a family named Addams.”

“Well, that does complicate matters slightly,” Robert said with a sigh of his own. “We don’t have noble families here in that states, although if we did, the Addamses would probably be a major contender. Several of their houses predate the founding of MACUSA itself. They’re also extremely wealthy and influential on practically all levels of wizarding governance.”

“Do you know where we might find them?”

“They have several homes,” Robert answered. “In upstate New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Louisiana, but their main family home is in Fall River, Massachusetts.”

-o-0-o-

“President Robert Roche and Minister Millicent Bagnold,” Lurch said with a groan about an hour later. “And Directors Dorothea Grimsditch and Amelia Bones.”

From his place next to Morticia’s chair, Gomez asked, “So, what brings the President and Director of Magical Security of MACUSA and the Minister and Head of the DMLE for the British Ministry to our humble abode?”

“We have reason to believe that you’re harboring Sirius Black,” Amelia said. “We’d like to question him.

Seeing the looks on the faces of Gomez and Morticia, Robert said, “MACUSA has no extradition treaty with the British Ministry of Magic and Mr. Black is not wanted for anything here in the United States. So you have my personal assurance that Minister Bagnold and Director Bones only wish to question him and nothing more.”

“Very well then,” Morticia said, as she reached up and pulled on the noose hanging nearby, as the house shook and a loud gong sounded.

“You rang?” Lurch asked as he appeared a moment later.

“Yes, Lurch,” Morticia said. “Please fetch Sirius.”

“Yes, Mrs. Addams,” Lurch said, as he turned and left the room, as Morticia motioned to an empty sofa and some chairs and said, “Please, have a seat.”

Robert, Dorothea, Millicent, and Amelia nodded as they sat down. As they waited they took in the rather eclectic, gothic, and macabre furnishings on display in the Addams living room.

Five minutes later, Lurch returned carrying a tea tray with Sirius and Eudora in tow, as she’d been with Sirius when Lurch came to get him and decided to accompany them.

“Thank you, Lurch,” Gomez said, as the butler set the tray down on the table in front of Morticia and she began serving their guests.

Lurch groaned in response before he turned and left the room, as Gomez motioned to Eudora and said, “My mother, Eudora Addams.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Addams,” Robert said, as he accepted a cup of tea from Morticia.

“Mr. President,” Eudora said. Looking at Millicent and Amelia, she said, “I trust you’ll want to question Sirius with Veritaserum?”

“Yes,” Amelia confirmed.

“I trust you won’t mind if I examine it before it's administered,” Eudora said. “Because before I allow a potion to be given to my grandsons’ godfather, I must insist on examining it first.”

Millicent and Amelia shared a look at the comment of grandsons’ godfather, but before they could comment, Dorothea nodded and said, “Mrs. Addams is well known to MACUSA as a Potions Master. In fact, before her retirement, she was contracted by my department on several occasions to brew potions for us. They were always of superior quality.”

“Very well,” Amelia said, as she pulled a vial out of a hidden pocket of her robes and handed it over.

Eudora held the vial up to a nearby light and examined it closely, before uncorking it, sniffing it, and finally tasting a single drop. After a moment, she nodded, and said, “It’ll do.”

Sirius sat down in a chair, as Amelia took the vial back from Eudora and asked him to open his mouth and put out his tongue. Once he had, Amelia put three drops on Sirius’s tongue. Once his eyes had glazed over she asked, “What is your name?”

“Sirius Orion Black.”

“And your date of birth?”

“3 November 1959.”

“Were you the Secret Keeper for James Potter and Lily Potter née Evans?”

“No.”

“Do you know who was?”

“I wasn’t present in the room when it was cast,” Sirius answered. “However, I did suggest to James and Lily that they use our friend Peter Pettigrew. They agreed with me that he was quiet and unassuming and not the obvious choice, unlike me.”

“Can you provide any alibi as to your whereabouts on the evening of 31 October 1981, before You-Know-Who’s attack on the Potter Cottage in Godric’s Hollow?”

“I was in my cubicle in the Auror Office from eight in the morning until two in the afternoon. After that, I went to The Three Broomsticks for a late lunch. Madam Rosmerta served me a bottle of butterbeer and I remember that her eight-year-old son—Torin, I think his name is—brought me my food from the kitchen. After that, I went to Gringotts and met with my account manager and then did some shopping around Diagon Alley.”

“Do you remember which stores you visited?” Amelia asked.

“Twillfit and Tattings for a final fitting with Mr. Twillfit for some new robes I’d ordered. Mrs. Twillfit’s Millinery to pick up some new shirts and underwear. Gambol and Japes to buy some balloons and fireworks for the birthday party that James and Lily were throwing for me in a few days. Scribbulus Writing Instruments for ink and new quills, Slug and Jigger’s Apothecary for a restock, Sugarplum’s Sweets Shop for some sweets for both myself and for Neville and Harrick when I saw them on my birthday. Had dinner at the Leaky Cauldron around eight, eight-thirty, followed by ice cream at Fortesque’s. I chatted with Florean for a good twenty minutes. After that, I returned to my room above the Leaky, which is when I heard about the attack.”

Amelia shared a look with Millicent at this, as they both agreed that it was highly unlikely that Voldemort found out where James and Lily were hiding and then sat on that information for any length of time.

“How did you pay for your purchases?” Millicent asked, knowing that if he paid with coin, there likely wasn’t a record and they’d have to rely on the memories of the shopkeepers and their employees to confirm that Sirius was there that day.

“My new Gringotts bank card,” Sirius said. “I’d just gotten it that day when I met with my account manager.”

Millicent and Amelia shared a look at that, as it would certainly make it much easier to confirm that Sirius had been at those stores, as Gringotts would have the transaction records.

“Where were you before coming into work that morning?” Amelia asked. “Or the day before?”

“My room above the Leaky Cauldron,” Sirius recalled. “In bed with my longtime partner, Remus Lupin. Aspen Greengrass and Aidan Cornfoot were with us, as we’d been on-again, off-again friends with benefits with them since the latter half of Remus’s and my sixth year in 1977. Friday the 30th was my day off that week and the four of us spent almost all day in bed, save for meals and bathroom trips. They left along with Remus around seven on the morning of the 31st and I remained in the public room of the Leaky chatting with Tom until Flooing to the Ministry for work at 7:45.”

“Is Peter Pettigrew an unregistered animagus?” Millicent asked. “What form does he take and how do you know about it?”

“Yes,” Sirius answered. “A rat and I know because he, James, and I became Animagi together in our fourth years so that we could safely be with our friend Remus during his monthly transformations and keep him under control.”

“Were you ever questioned following your arrest in 1981?” Amelia asked.

“No.”

“Was your wand checked with Priori Incantato?” Millicent asked.

“Not that I saw,” Sirius answered.

“Do you know who handled your wand after your arrest?” Amelia asked.

“The arresting Auror… I don’t know his name,” Sirius replied. “After we got to the Ministry, he handed it over to Bartemius Crouch Sr.”

“Did Director Crouch question you at all?” Millicent asked.

“No.”

“What did he do?” Amelia asked.

“Told the Aurors to take me straight to Azkaban,” Sirius said.

“Does anything else stand out to you about your interactions with him that day?” Millicent asked.

“As they were leading me away I remember hearing the sound of wood snapping and I heard him talking to himself, calling me a ‘dirty traitor, like his son.’”

“Do you think the sound your heard was Crouch snapping your wand?” Amelia asked.

“Yes.”

“Did Crouch or any of the Aurors check your arm for the Dark Mark?” Millicent asked.

“No.”

“Do you have a Dark Mark?” Amelia asked.

“No.”

“Were you ever tried for your alleged crimes?” Millicent asked.

“No.”

“I think we have everything we need,” Amelia said, as Millicent nodded, and Amelia administered the antidote.

Once Sirius was no longer under the effects of the potion, they checked his arm and found that he did indeed have no Dark Mark.

“We’ll check up on your alibi, contact all of the people who you had contact with that day and the day before,” Millicent said. “You’ll be hearing from us, Mr. Black.”

Sirius nodded, before Robert, Dorothea, Millicent, and Amelia left the mansion. Once they were gone, Sirius turned to Morticia, Gomez, and Eudora. “So, how do you think it went?”

“I think it went well,” Morticia said. “At least now your side of the story is out there and they can check it out.”

“Yes, good for them to actually do some investigating,” Eudora said, as she rolled her eyes. “Five years too late.”

“Better late than never, I suppose,” Gomez said.

-o-0-o-

To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there’s Ch5 of ‘The Brothers Addams’. So the ball is now rolling for Sirius to be cleared. Hopefully, it won’t take too long.
> 
> Just a heads up, new chapters might start slowing down a bit from here on out, as I didn’t post Ch1 of this story until I had the first four chapters finished and this one about 70% finished. I have started writing Ch6, although at some point I will have to take a break from this story and update some of my other stories. I’m just not sure at the moment when that’ll be, as for the time being, this story is the only one that I’ve been thinking about.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: The last scene of this chapter contains mentions of child molestation and rape that will likely disturb most readers. Rest assured, however, that the perpetrator is caught and made to pay for their deplorable actions.

The Brothers Addams  
By J.C. Vascardi

-o-0-o-

Chapter Six

-o-0-o-

**_ January 9, 1987… _ **

Two days later found Sirius sitting in the conservatory playing a game of Wizard’s Chess with Gomez. Morticia was standing nearby with a pair of clippers as she cut the blossoms off a bunch of roses and put the thorny stems in a vase.

Neville was busy feeding Morticia’s African Strangler, Cleopatra, and his own, Caesar. Harrick, meanwhile, was standing at an easel painting.

“Thank you, Thing,” Harrick said, as the hand squeezed more black paint from a tube onto Harrick’s palette, which was almost out.

The hand gave Harrick a thumbs up, as Harrick made another stroke before looking up and groaning, as he said, “Pubert, stop moving!”

Pubert was currently sitting in a nearby chair as he posed for Harrick, all three of his feet resting atop overturned black flowerpots so that his legs were bent at the knees. His elbows were resting on the knees of his outermost legs with his chin resting on the knee of his middle leg.

“I’m tired of posing,” Pubert complained.

“You’re the one who asked me to paint you,” Harrick pointed out.

“I didn’t think it would take this long.”

Raising an eyebrow, Harrick said, “It’s been five minutes. I’m good, but I’m not that good that I can finish your portrait that quickly. Unless, of course, you want me to paint you as an ugly stick figure.”

“Don’t you dare!”

“Then sit still.”

“I’m bored!”

Looking over at Sirius, Harrick asked, “Could you stun him or something?”

Sirius grinned. “Sorry, but I don’t have a wand yet.”

Pubert was just about to laugh when Gomez ejected his wand from his sleeve and pointed it at Pubert without even looking up from the chessboard.

“Oh come on, Fat…” Pubert started, but stopped speaking mid-word, as Gomez’s silent Full-Body Bind hit his son, freezing him in place.

“Thank you,” Harrick said, as he went back to painting.

“You’re welcome,” Gomez said as he put away his wand and moved his knight to take one of Sirius’s rooks. After it was destroyed, Gomez smiled and said, “Check.”

Sirius grumbled before he moved his king out of harm’s way.

As he did this, Neville said, “Caesar, down! There’s plenty here for both of you, just be patient. You don’t have to try to steal Cleopatra’s food.”

The male African Strangler hung its head and almost seemed to whimper at Neville’s rebuke as he finished feeding a yak meatball to Cleopatra. Spearing a burger made from the meat of a Nile crocodile, Neville said, “Now, Caesar, this one is yours.”

Caesar happily ate the offering as Cleopatra almost seemed to turn her head away in disgust, as Morticia looked over and said, “Cleopatra always has been a fussy eater.”

“True,” Neville said. “Still, I guess it’s a good thing that she doesn’t like croc-burgers… as it means that she won’t try to steal Caesar’s food.”

“Now if only he’d stop trying to steal Cleo’s,” Harrick commented.

Plants and Herbology, in general, were not an area that particularly interested Harrick, but he still had an excellent grasp on the subject due to Neville’s keen interest.

“Caesar is still young,” Morticia said. “He doesn’t know any better. Give him a few more years and he’ll learn, just as Cleopatra has.”

“At least they both dislike the taste of humans,” Gomez said, as Kitty Kat came in through the large cat flap in the greenhouse wall that was charmed so that only he could use it.

Sirius cast a nervous glance over at the family house cat, as he still wasn’t used to seeing a full-grown African lion this close up. The fact that the family kept one as a pet had been even more of a shock to him than meeting Thing for the first time had been. Still, the lion seemed tame enough, or as tame as any wild animal could be.

And it did set Sirius’s mind at ease at least a little bit that Kitty Kat—much like Cleopatra and Caesar—apparently didn’t like the taste of humans. Wednesday had told him that Kitty Kat had eaten a zookeeper once, though, after the very upset stomach that followed, Kitty Kat had apparently sworn off humans as a food source.

As Kitty Kat ambled over and put his large head on Gomez’s lap, prompting Gomez to put his cigar down on the chessboard and scratch behind his ears, Sirius asked, “I’ve been meaning to ask. Is it safe for me to use my Animagus form around him?”

“Oh yes, quite safe,” Morticia said. “Kitty Kat is intelligent enough to know the difference between a real dog and an Animagus.”

“He mostly prefers milk anyway,” Harrick commented as he concentrated on adding a few small details to the likeness of Pubert’s face.

“And when he does eat meat, he prefers it already be skinned and prepared for him,” Neville added. “We tried giving him food that still had its fur once. He just turned up his nose at it and walked away.”

“Okay then,” Sirius said, as he breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing he wanted after getting out of Azkaban was to end up as a lion’s dinner.

-o-0-o-

**_ January 12, 1987… _ **

Returning to her office after questioning Aspen Greengrass and his now-husband Aidan, Amelia sat down at her desk and poured herself a cup of tea from the pot that her secretary had kindly delivered to her office while she was on her way up from the atrium.

Aspen and Aidan revealed that they’d always had a hard time believing that Sirius had been the one to betray James and Lily Potter, as they’d gotten to know him very well in the years that they’d occasionally hooked up with him and Remus. It just seemed so out of character for Sirius, who obviously thought of and loved James like a brother. So, the idea that he’d betray him, Lily, and their sons—his own godsons—had been a hard pill for them to swallow.

They’d lost contact with Remus when Sirius went to prison. They’d tried to get in touch with him to comfort him over the loss of Sirius, but all of their attempts at any form of communication went unanswered. As such, they had no idea where Remus was, much to Amelia’s disappointment.

She and her Aurors had been trying to track him down for the last five days, ever since she and Minister Bagnold had returned from the states after questioning Sirius. So far they hadn’t been able to turn up even the smallest trace of the werewolf.

“The damn werewolf laws probably don’t help,” Amelia said softly to her empty office. “You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters on the Wizengamot really hurt a lot of innocent people in their gambit to make the werewolves desperate enough to join their side.”

Unfortunately, it had worked, as there were plenty of werewolves who unable to find gainful employment anywhere else, had been forced to serve Voldemort, lest they and their families lose their homes and starve to death. Some did refuse, of course, but desperation can make one do things that they normally wouldn’t even consider. Such as turning to prostitution, crime, or other unsavory ways of making a living.

As Amelia sipped her tea, she nearly jumped out of her skin when a loud gong on a shelf to the left of her desk suddenly rang. Thankfully, she managed to not spill her tea in her lap.

Turning her head, she looked at the gong for a long moment. She could count on only one hand the number of times that gong had rung. It linked her office to the Department of Mysteries and signaled the imminent arrival of the mysterious Lord High Unspeakable.

Nobody in the Ministry, even the Minister for Magic herself, knew the identity of the Head of the Department of Mysteries. In fact, there was a strong belief among the other Ministry Department Heads that even the people working within the Department of Mysteries itself didn’t actually know who the Lord High Unspeakable was.

Less than five minutes after the gong sounded, Amelia set her teacup down as she heard her office door bolt shut and felt a wave of powerful anti-eavesdropping spells go up around her office. It was then that her fireplace whooshed to life and a man stepped out of the green flames a moment later.

Well, Amelia assumed it was a man.

The face-concealing hooded cloak, robe, and gloves completely hid any form of possible identification other than the dimensions of the person’s body.

She could make out a muscular build and would guess the person to be about six-five. Other than that, though, every inch of the person was covered from head to toe.

“Madam Bones,” the Unspeakable said, as he crossed the room towards her desk. Even his voice was magically altered to prevent identification. It sounded male, but that was all Amelia could tell.

“Unspeakable…” Amelia said. “I’m sorry do you have a name?”

“Naturally, everyone has a name. I’m just not in the habit of giving mine out while I’m on the job. You may call me Smith.”

“Not your real name, I assume?”

“Of course not,” Smith confirmed.

Gesturing to one of the chairs in front of her desk, Amelia said, “Very well, Smith. What can I do for you?”

“It’s more what I can do for you, Madam Bones. You see I have information about the Sirius Black case which I think will be quite interesting to you.”

Amelia sat up a bit straighter, as she said, “What information?”

“The identity of the one who cast the Potter’s Fidelius Charm.”

Amelia was surprised by this, as she’d always been under the impression that the Fidelius Charm was untraceable. It was one of only a very small handful of spells that resisted Priori Incantato, so unless the caster of the Fidelius came forward and revealed themselves, it was almost impossible to figure out who’d cast a given Fidelius.

“And where pray tell did you get this information?” Amelia asked.

“We have our ways,” Smith said. “Ways which I won’t be expanding upon, as we do love our secrets in the Department of Mysteries, but sometimes certain secrets can, at the discretion of yours truly, be shared.”

“I take it now is one of those times.”

Smith nodded. “Indeed, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t. The Fidelius Charm was cast for the Potters on the 15th of August 1980 by Molly Weasley née Prewett.”

Amelia’s eyebrows arched at this, as she asked, “Molly Weasley? Her husband works for the DMLE… as head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office.”

“Correct, Arthur Weasley,” Smith confirmed.

“I’ve put out the word in my department that anybody with information about the Potters should come forward,” Amelia said. “But I haven’t heard from Arthur or his wife.”

Smith nodded. “You wouldn’t. Our records indicate that within an hour of casting the Fidelius that Mrs. Weasley was Obliviated. I’m afraid I don’t know by whom, but whoever it is didn’t want anyone to know that it was her who cast the charm.”

“A Forensic Legilimens and Mind Healer might be able to get that information.”

“Quite possibly,” Smith said. “Of course, even if she does remember that she cast the spell, there’s a strong possibility that she won’t remember who Obliviated her. If it was done silently and behind her back, she wouldn’t know.”

“Yes, and it’s been over six years, so even assuming the caster didn’t mask their signature, there wouldn’t be any trace of it now.”

“Indeed there wouldn’t be,” Smith replied. “I’m afraid I can’t help you with the identity of who Obliviated Mrs. Weasley. But I can reveal one other very interesting tidbit related to the Potters’ Fidelius… well, two actually.”

“I’m listening.”

“I can confirm that the Secret Keeper was indeed Peter Pettigrew, as has been alleged,” Smith said. “However, I can also reveal that he too was Obliviated.”

“To what end?”

“To forget that he was the Secret Keeper. That’s likely why it took over a year for Voldemort to find out where the Potters were, as the Secret Keeper didn’t even remember that they were the Secret Keeper.”

“So, you’re saying that we shouldn’t pursue the claim that Peter Pettigrew is still alive?”

“Beyond proving that Heir Black didn’t kill him,” Smith said, “there isn’t much information that he’d be able to provide. He’d likely be able to confirm that he’s the one who cast the Blasting Curse that killed those muggles, but you already have Heir Black’s statement on that, as well as his assertion that the late Lord and Lady Potter named him as their Secret Keeper. I’m sure I needn’t tell you that in the eyes of many of the noble members of the Wizengamot, that will be enough.”

Amelia nodded. “Yes, many of the Lords of the Wizengamot consider their words and the words of their heirs to be unimpeachable. Even when they’re lying, they’d be offended at the implication of such, even with proof of it.”

With a sigh, Amelia said, “Which means that whatever his other crimes might be, that Peter Pettigrew can’t be held responsible for selling out the Potters to You-Know-Who. If he didn’t even remember that he was the Secret Keeper, then it’s not a betrayal for him to reveal the secret.”

“Indeed,” Smith said. “Not remembering that’s he’s the Secret Keeper and depending on how much he actually knows about how the Fidelius works—since it’s not taught in the standard Hogwarts curriculum—it’s entirely possible that he believed the rumors that Sirius was the keeper and thus never paid any attention to the fact that he was able to tell people.”

Pausing, Smith said, “That may seem odd to some people, but then again, Voldemort is known to be very liberal in his uses of the Cruciatus Curse, even among his followers, so I imagine that Peter was frequently in too much pain to think straight.”

Amelia nodded, before she said, “It does, however, mean that there are likely far more people out there than what was previously believed who knew the Potter’s whereabouts. As they weren’t the Keepers, they wouldn’t be able to reveal that information, but the Keeper himself could have revealed the secret to dozens of people without even realizing that he was doing it.”

The Fidelius Charm magically prevented those who weren’t the Secret Keeper from revealing the secret, but it didn’t prevent the Secret Keeper from doing it. So, if a person lost the memory of being a Secret Keeper, whether that be from Obliviation or some other means, then they could tell all and sundry without even realizing what they were doing.

After a pause, Smith added, “So you’re correct that it’s not really a betrayal. Or at least, not a conscious and deliberate one, as Mr. Pettigrew can’t consciously or deliberately reveal secret information that he doesn’t even remember was entrusted to him.”

“Well, whether he remembers that he was the Secret Keeper or not,” Amelia said, “he’ll still be going to prison if we ever catch him. For the murders of the muggles, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of pounds of property damage caused by his Blasting Curse.”

“Indeed,” Smith said, as he stood back up. “I shall take my leave now and let you get back to your tea, Madam Bones. Have a pleasant day.”

The fire roared and Smith was gone almost before Amelia could even blink. The anti-eavesdropping wards falling a second later, followed by the bolt on her office door disengaging.

-o-0-o-

**_ January 14, 1987… _ **

Two days later, Amelia apparated both herself and her niece, Susan, to the edge of the wards around The Burrow. Accompanying her were Aurors Rufus Scrimgeour and Kingsley Shacklebolt, along with their respective wives—and husband in Kingsley’s case—and young children or grandchildren.

Rufus and his wife, Annabelle, only had one child, a grown son named Miles, who was currently on his second honeymoon with his wife Leonora. Their children, as a result, were spending the week with their grandparents. Rufus had a firm grip on four-year-old Aaron’s hand, while Annabelle held two-year-old Alice in her arms.

Kingsley’s wife, Miranda, and his husband, Shawn, accompanied the Auror, along with Kingsley’s and Shawn’s two sets of twin sons. Conjoined twins Kaidan and Karter, who were ten and shared everything below their necks, and four-year-old Dax and Dex, who’d be five in February.

Not present were Kingsley’s and Miranda’s two children, Davetta and Leonidas, as they were currently in their sixth and fifth years respectively at Hogwarts.

They brought the children as this evening was just a friendly dinner among co-workers… or at least that’s what it would remain until after dinner. Amelia did plan on broaching the subject of the Sirius Black case with Arthur and Molly… which is also why she’d asked Rufus and Kingsley to bring their spouses. Miranda was a Healer at St. Mungo’s, while Annabelle and Shawn both worked for the DMLE, as a Mind Healer and Forensic Legilimens, respectively.

Walking up to the front door and knocking, it was answered a minute later by Molly.

“Madam Bones, how good to see you,” she said, as it was Amelia standing at the front of the group and was the first person that Molly could see as a result.

“Please, this is a social visit,” Amelia said. “Call me Amelia. You remember my niece, Susan?”

Molly smiled, “Of course,” as she stood aside and said, “Please come in, all of you.”

As their guests crossed the threshold, Arthur smiled and said, “I’ll take your cloaks and then you can go warm up by the fire. A rather bitter winter we’re having this year.”

“Yes, it is,” Kingsley agreed.

“Can I get you anything to drink?” Molly asked. “Tea or perhaps hot chocolate for the children?”

Kaidan’s, Karter’s, Susan’s, Dax's, Dex's, and Aaron’s faces all lit up at the mention of hot chocolate. Alice didn’t react, but then she was currently sleeping peacefully in her grandmother’s arms, as almost since birth she’d been a very sound sleeper. To the point that even Side-Along Apparition didn’t wake her.

“Tea would be lovely,” Miranda said, as she removed her cloak and handed it to Arthur. “And I’m sure the children would love some hot chocolate.”

Shawn, Kingsley, Amelia, Rufus, and Annabelle indicated they’d all love a cup of tea, as Arthur took their cloaks into a small back room near the stairs where a multitude of wooden pegs stuck out of the wall and began hanging up the cloaks.

“Coming right up,” Molly said, as the guests all moved over to the large kitchen fireplace and warmed their hands for a moment.

“Let’s head-on into the living room,” Arthur said after he’d finished hanging up everyone’s cloaks.

Amelia nodded, as they moved into the living room to find the four youngest members of the Weasley brood arrayed about the room.

Eight-year-old twins, Fred and George Weasley—who’d be turning nine in April—were playing a game of Exploding Snap.

Six-going-on-seven come March Ron was sitting in a chair next to the fire reading a battered copy of Quidditch Through the Ages that was covered in—and at least partially held together by—a multitude of Chudley Cannons stickers.

And the youngest, five-year-old Ginny, was sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace playing with a pair of rag dolls that Amelia noticed were made to look like The-Boys-Who-Lived… or at least what they were assumed to look like, based on what James and Lily had looked like, as nobody had seen the boys since that tragic day.

Honestly, the only reason that Amelia even knew that was who the dolls were supposed to be was that the zigzagged red thread on their foreheads was pretty much a dead giveaway.

From in the living room, Amelia heard Molly walk over to the stairs and call up, “Percy, our guests have arrived. Don’t be rude. Come say hello.”

Amelia could hear a door open and a moment later, a male voice called out, “I’m reading, Mom.”

“That can wait, Percy,” Molly called out. “Now come downstairs and say hello to your father’s boss.”

A moment later, Amelia heard footsteps on the stairs, as Molly came into the living room carrying a tray of steaming mugs of hot chocolate, along with several empty cups and a teapot. She set it down on the coffee table just as Percy entered the room… with a rat on his shoulder.

A rat that the eagle-eyed Amelia Bones immediately noticed was missing a toe on one of its paws.

“Hello,” Percy said with a smile to Madam Bones.

“Hello Percy,” Amelia said. “Who’s your friend?”

“Friend?” Percy asked before he blushed slightly and said, “Oh, this is Scabbers. I might pass him off to Ron when I go off to school in September.”

“I see,” Amelia said. She had planned on waiting to broach the topic of Sirius Black until after dinner, but then if the rat currently chewing on Percy’s collar was who she thought it was, she wasn’t going to risk him getting away.

Pulling out her wand, Amelia said, “ ** _Accio Scabbers!_** ”

Before anyone could react, Scabbers was flying through the air off of ten-year-old Percy’s shoulder. Once he was far enough away from Percy she cast the Animagus Reversal Charm… and everyone’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates when Percy’s pet rat suddenly got a lot bigger as he turned into a man with dirty blond hair in his late twenties.

Not missing a beat, Amelia said, “ ** _Incarcerous!_** Peter Pettigrew, you’re under arrest for the murders of twelve muggles, illegally faking your death, and over half a million muggle pounds of property damage… other charges pending.”

A wide-eyed Arthur and Molly gaped at the tied-up man now sitting on their living room floor. Of all the wide eyes, however, none were wider than those of Percy Weasley, as he realized that his pet rat was actually a man over twice his age.

A man who slept in Percy’s bed with him every night for the last six years. The third eldest Weasley son, who was very well-read and thus knew all about the birds and the bees, visibly shuddered and blushed bright red when he thought back on all the times that Scabbers had burrowed under his blankets and slept on his lower torso… only inches away from his crotch.

Wizards sometimes started puberty earlier than muggles, and Percy had started shortly after turning ten. While it wasn’t very big due to his age, he did sometimes wake up with a morning hard-on that would pop through the fly of his boxers, and… he shuddered again.

Seeing the look on Percy’s face, Amelia kneeled down in front of him and asked, “Percy, what’s wrong? You can whisper it in my ear if you want.”

Percy stood stock still for a moment before he put his lips to Amelia’s left ear and whispered, “Scabbers… um… Peter… has slept in my bed with me every night for the last six years.” He hesitated, before he whispered, “He likes to sleep under my covers near my crotch.”

Amelia’s eyes widened but she stayed kneeling as Percy, now blushing redder than his hair, whispered, “I started puberty after my last birthday and get hard sometimes… I woke up a few times to… Scabbers was… nuzzling and licking me down there.”

Amelia closed her eyes and fought the urge to throw up. Giving Percy a comforting pat on the back, she stood back up and said, “I think it would be best if the children left the room.”

Arthur nodded as he herded all of the children out of the living room and up the stairs to the master bedroom on the fourth floor. He didn’t know what Percy had whispered to Amelia, but from the way he was blushing and shuddering, he had a very bad feeling about it.

Once the children were situated in the room he shared with Molly, Arthur magically locked the door from the outside and placed a few layers of anti-eavesdropping spells outside the door. Between them and the several empty floors between them and the living room, it should be safe, although just to be sure, as he made his back downstairs, he turned on the wireless set in Bill’s room on the third floor and Percy’s on the second.

Almost immediately after Arthur re-entered the living room, Amelia cast several powerful anti-eavesdropping charms that enveloped the room.

Explaining to the rest of the adults what Percy had whispered to her, Amelia sighed and said, “Peter Pettigrew, I’m also charging you with multiple counts of child molestation.”

“M… m… mole… no!” Molly stammered out before she whipped around and glared at Peter, a burning fury in her eyes as she shouted, “How dare you! Not my son, you bastard!”

“I wasn’t expecting to find Peter tonight,” Amelia said. “So, I didn’t bring any Veritaserum. Shawn, could you?”

“If I must,” Shawn said, as he reached out with his mind. Unlike most people who had to learn the skill, Shawn possessed natural ability with it, having been born a prodigy in both Legilimency and Occlumency, hence his chosen profession of Forensic Legilimens.

Shawn soon found that Peter’s mental defenses were practically non-existent, although that may well be due to spending the last several years in his animagus form. The only way Peter would have been able to make active use of both Occlumency and his animagus form at the same time is if he, like Shawn, had a natural talent for the mind arts.

He clearly didn’t as Shawn found that Peter’s shields were about as useful as soaking wet tissue paper. Pulling out his wand and a collection of empty vials, Shawn was soon extracting multiple memories from Peter’s head and labeling them.

After about ten minutes, Shawn sighed. “I think we have everything we need to prove his guilt. It looks like Percy started puberty within days of his tenth birthday last August, which is when Peter began molesting him at night in his rat form. Nuzzling and licking his semi-erect cock as he slept.”

“Disgraceful!” Miranda exclaimed.

“It’s sick and depraved,” Annabelle said.

“I’m guessing Percy doesn’t even realize the full extent of what happened,” Shawn said with a sad shake of his head.

“What do you mean?” Arthur asked.

“I’m afraid it progressed beyond just molestation,” Shawn said, as he turned sad eyes toward the elder Weasleys. “On multiple occasions after Percy was sound asleep, Peter transformed out of his rat form, and using wandless, nonverbal magic he made sure that Percy wouldn’t wake up or realize what was happening.”

“Are you saying?” Molly asked as tears came to her eyes.

“Yes,” Shawn answered. “I wish it wasn’t the case, but this piece of shit has raped your son in his sleep on multiple occasions.”

After a tense silence, Rufus asked, “Madam Bones, permission to take this vile piece of garbage to the Ministry for booking?”

“Granted,” Amelia said, as she didn’t want to look at him any longer. She also wanted to remove any temptation that Arthur and Molly might be feeling to take the law into their own hands. “Kingsley, go with him, I don’t want to take any chances of him escaping. In fact, call ahead and have Alastor assemble a team of his most trusted Aurors to make sure he gets down to the cells with no chance of escape.”

Rufus and Kingsley nodded their heads before Rufus pulled out his wand and levitated the still bound Peter Pettigrew out of the room.

Not long after, Arthur had to help Molly to a chair as she was clearly feeling weak in the knees as she realized how utterly she’d failed her son.

“You mustn’t blame yourself,” Annabelle said, as she knelt in front of Molly. “I assume that there were no indications that Scabbers was anything more than a rat. You couldn’t have known.”

“He was strangely long-lived for a rat,” Arthur said. “But, you’re right we never saw any indication that he wasn’t what he appeared to be.”

Looking over at Amelia, Molly, through tears, asked, “How did you know? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you did and that monster won’t be hurting my Percy again, but how did you know?”

“Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban and wrote his grandfather,” Amelia said. “In the letter to Lord Black, Sirius alleged that Peter and not him was the Secret Keeper for James and Lily Potter. He also revealed that Peter was a rat animagus and after blowing up a muggle street with a Blasting Curse and killing twelve muggles, he cut off one of his fingers, transformed into his animagus form, and disappeared down a sewer drain.”

With a sad shake of her head, Amelia added, “That left Heir Black to look guilty of Peter’s crimes and he was sent immediately to Azkaban. I regret to say that he was never questioned nor did he ever at any time in the last six years get a trial. Needless to say, his grandparents—the Lord and Lady Black—are not happy.”

Taking a fortifying sip of her tea, Amelia said, “Anyway, when Percy entered the room, I immediately noticed the rat on his shoulder and saw that it was missing a toe on one of its front paws. I took a chance, which proved correct.”

Turning to Shawn, she asked, “Did you get anything about his crimes regarding Sirius?”

Nodding, Shawn said, “Yes. Extracted his memory of that night. He was Obliviated so that he would forget that he was the Potter’s Secret Keeper, so he honestly believes the rumors that Sirius is the one who sold them out. Just as Sirius said in his letter, however, he hit Sirius with an overpowered Tickling Hex so that he was laughing uncontrollably and then cut off his own finger, cast the Blasting Charm, and made his escape.”

“Did you find any evidence of who Obliviated him?” Amelia asked.

Shaking his head, Shawn said, “I’m afraid not. Whoever it was expertly masked their signature, so combined with the fact that it’s been nearly six years, there was no identifiable trace of who did it. Only that it was done.”

Annabelle sighed. “Contrary to popular belief, Obliviation doesn’t erase memories. It just locks them away where they can’t be accessed. Depending on the strength of the caster, accessing the locked memories can be very hard, especially if the one doing the Obliviation is a skilled Legilimens.”

“I believe the person who Obliviated Peter is a Master Legilimens,” Shawn said before he grinned. “Although, I’m pleased to say they’re not on my level. Of course, as a naturally gifted Legilimency prodigy, very few are. So, I got past the Obliviation and accessed Peter’s repressed memories quite easily.”

Nothing more was said for a while, as Amelia, Miranda, Annabelle, and Shawn did their best to comfort the clearly distraught Arthur and Molly.

Annabelle and Shawn both offered to work with Percy, free of charge, to help him recover from his trauma. Arthur and Molly gratefully took them up on the offer.

Amelia also decided not to bring up the fact that it had been Molly who cast the Fidelius Charm for the Potters that night, as she felt that Molly was distraught enough to find out that her son had been molested and raped multiple times under her own roof. There was no need to pile on the poor woman.

Annabelle and Miranda moved out to the kitchen and finished making dinner, as Amelia went up and let the kids out of the master bedroom. The large group then proceeded to have dinner, as the adults did their best to keep conversation happy and upbeat around the children.

Shawn also made a brief trip into Percy’s mind to lock away his memories of the molestation and to make sure that no memories of the multiple rapes could surface, so that they could be slowly unlocked with help and counseling from him and Annabelle.

-o-0-o-

To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have Ch6 of ‘The Brothers Addams’. I know Neville and Harrick didn’t appear much in this, but at least things are happening in the background. It likely won’t be long before Sirius is cleared and then things can start progressing a bit faster as there are a few more snapshots of life in the Addams manse before Neville and Harrick start school.


	7. Chapter 7

The Brothers Addams  
By J.C. Vascardi

-o-0-o-

Chapter Seven

-o-0-o-

**_ January 14, 1987… _ **

While the adults were talking downstairs before dinner, the children were up in the master bedroom.

“We’re locked in,” Ron said, as he rattled the handle and found that it wouldn’t budge. “And I can’t hear a word from downstairs.”

“Well, that’s annoying,” Dax said.

“What did they want to talk about, I wonder?” Dex asked.

“No idea,” Susan said. “But, at least they let us take our hot chocolate with us.”

“Yes, it would have sucked if we had to leave that downstairs,” Aaron said, as he took a sip of it and used his tongue to wipe the whipped cream mustache off his upper lip.

On the other side of the room, Percy had his arms wrapped around himself, as he rocked back and forth in an old rocking chair next to the fireplace that Molly’s grandmother gave her as a wedding gift.

While they were curious about what was wrong with their older brother, the twins’ attention was temporarily diverted by something else. It was something they’d noticed and wanted to comment on downstairs but didn’t get the chance before the whole Scabbers isn’t really a rat thing.

Looking over at Kaidan and Karter Shacklebolt, Fred asked, “Did you know that…”

“…you’re not identical?” George continued.

“And that you have…” Fred added.

“…different skin colors?” George finished.

Kaidan and Karter grinned as they turned their heads and looked at each other, before turning back to the Weasley twins and saying, in perfect unison, sarcasm clear in their tones, “Wow, really?”

Fred and George could tell when they were being mocked, although, in retrospect, even they could admit that it was a pretty stupid question. Kaidan and Karter were ten years old and shared everything from their necks down… so they’d have to be either blind or really oblivious not to notice that they weren’t identical. Or that Kaidan was white like Shawn and that Karter was black like Kingsley.

“Okay, yeah,” Fred said, as George admitted, “Dumb question.”

“You’d be surprised how often people ask it though,” Kaidan said.

Nodding, Karter added, “Yes, we’ve heard it more times than we can count on the fingers and toes of everybody in this room.”

“I guess people tend to be so shocked when they see us, that their brain-to-mouth connection breaks,” Kaidan said. “Like, of course, Karter and I have noticed. It’d be pretty hard not to, all things considered.”

Fred and George nodded before they turned their attention to Percy and asked, in unison, “Okay, Perce, what’s wrong?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Ron asked. “The bloody prat has just lost his only friend.”

Percy stopped rocking as he moved his legs up onto the chair and buried his face in his knees. From the sniffling sounds that started a moment later, it was clear that he was crying.

“Okay, that was cruel,” Kaidan said.

Nodding, Karter said, “You should be ashamed of yourself.”

Susan, Dax, and Dex nodded in agreement. Aaron paid them no mind, as he’d finished his hot chocolate and was now busy playing with Ginny, the two of them not paying any attention to the others in the room, as they mock dueled each other through the rag dolls, with Aaron controlling the Neville doll and Ginny the Harrick doll.

Fred and George, meanwhile, were momentarily struck dumb by the reaction. They’d be the first to admit that they’d said some pretty mean things to Percy over the years, as his serious nature didn’t exactly mesh well with their fun-loving personalities. They did not, however, enjoy watching him cry. They much preferred laughter to tears.

George glared at Ron with a look that promised retribution, even as Fred moved closer to Percy and said, “There, there, Perce, it’s okay. Ron’s just an idiot.”

“Hey!” Ron exclaimed. “I am not! I’m glad that stupid, fat rat is gone and Percy can’t pass him off to me.”

If anything, this just made Percy cry more, although nobody in the room, not knowing what was actually wrong, could understand why. Despite his little brother’s cruelty, Percy was crying not only because of what Peter had done to him, but what he was going to do to Ron.

After all, he had been considering passing Scabbers off to Ron in a few months when he started school, as he wasn’t sure about going off to school with a pet rat. He wasn’t sure if it would have been allowed, as the Hogwarts letters did say owl, cat, or toad.

Now though, Percy couldn’t help but beat himself up over the idea of giving Scabbers to Ron. Especially if that meant that Peter did the same thing to his baby brother that he’d done to him.

Reaching out a hand towards Percy’s shoulder to try and comfort him, Fred was surprised when Percy violently shrugged away with a muffled scream of, “Don’t touch me!”

Percy didn’t really want to be touched by anyone right now, as he grappled with what Peter had done to him.

Unfortunately, for him, it soon became necessary for him to be touched, as he had shrugged away from Fred a little too violently… enough so that the arm of the old rocking chair—which had already been loose—broke off, sending Percy falling.

Seeing that the trajectory would send him right into the fireplace—and the fire burning in it—Kaidan and Karter leaped forward and grabbed onto Percy with both arms.

He struggled a bit at first but stopped when Kaidan said, “Hey, hey, it’s okay. I get that you don’t want to be touched.”

“But we figured you wanted to be in the fireplace even less,” Karter added. “Without Floo powder, those flames would have been fatal.”

Percy could feel the magic of a life debt settling on his core, so he knew that the twins had just saved his life. This realization made him stop fighting to get away from them, as he just went sort of limp in their arms. Nestling his head on the shoulder between Kaidan’s and Karter’s heads, his tears were soon soaking their shirt.

Even Aaron and Ginny were watching now, their eyes wide, as Kaidan and Karter moved over to the bed with Percy and sat down. They didn’t release their hold on him but then they figured that was okay as when he’d started crying on their shoulder, he’d wrapped his own arms around them and was clinging to them as if his life depended on it.

Ron just shook his head and moved over to a corner of the room to sulk, while Dax, Dex, and Susan moved over to the small bench in front of Molly’s dressing table and sat down. While it was only big enough for one adult to sit on comfortably, the three five-year-olds fit without any trouble.

Fred and George shared a look before they sat down on opposite sides of Kaidan, Karter, and Percy. They didn’t attempt to reach out and touch their brother, but they wanted him to know that they were there and that they cared.

Ginny crawled over as well and resting the side of her cheek against the top of Percy’s head, she whispered, “Percy, don’t cry.”

“And don’t listen to Ickle Ronniekins,” Fred said.

“You do have friends and family,” George added.

“Who cares about you,” Fred and George said in unison.

“We love you, Percy,” Ginny said.

Kaidan and Karter, for their part, remained silent as they didn’t really know Percy very well, having never actually met him before today. They did, however, continue to hold on to him, as Karter rubbed his back and Kaidan ran his hand gently through the hair on the back of Percy’s head.

Both of the Shacklebolt twins had tilted their heads to the side so that their cheeks were resting against the head that was currently between their heads. They were also humming softly, hoping to calm down the redhead whose life they’d just saved.

After several minutes of near silence, Percy finally stopped crying, whether that was because he had calmed down or because he’d run out of tears. Lifting his head and moving back far enough that he could look Kaidan and Karter in the eyes, he said, “Thank you, for saving my life.”

“You’re welcome,” Kaidan said, as Karter nodded.

Percy moved so that he was sitting with his back to the Shacklebolt twins, their legs on either side of him.

“Is this okay?” Percy asked quietly, as he moved his own arms so that they were holding Kaidan’s and Karter’s arms in place around his waist.

Kaidan nodded, as Karter said, “Sure, whatever you’re comfortable with.”

Kaidan and Karter were at a bit of a loss as to why, but they just felt drawn to Percy for some reason, and having him in their arms just felt right, somehow. They didn’t think it was the life debt, as while they could feel it to some extent, they knew that it was Percy who would feel it more since he was the one who’d been saved.

Seeing that Percy seemed to be okay now, Ginny had gone back to playing with Aaron. Susan, Dax, and Dex, were talking amongst themselves and Ron was too busy sulking in the corner to pay any attention.

“What happened, Perce?” Fred asked.

“Promise you won’t laugh?” Percy asked. “Or make fun?”

“Your obvious pain isn’t funny, Perce,” George said.

Fred nodded. “Yes, we like to laugh, and we do sometimes do that at your expense. But, we don’t like seeing you cry.”

“We want to help,” George added. “Not sure we can, but we can try.”

“Scabbers… er… Peter, he well,” Percy blushed bright red, as he whispered softly enough that only Kaidan and Karter could hear him easily, and Fred and George had to strain to hear it, “touched me.”

“He touched you?” Kaidan asked.

“My private parts,” Percy clarified. “It was gross when I thought he was just a rat, but I could rationalize it away that as a rat, he just didn’t know any better.”

Kaidan, Karter, Fred, and George nodded, as they could see how Percy could rationalize it until he found out that his rationale didn’t actually work. Then it just became creepy and his reaction made total sense.

“He’s not just a rat though,” Kaidan said, as he and Karter visibly shuddered.

“He’s a grown man,” Karter added. “Who definitely should know better.”

“I can see why that upset you,” George said.

“I’d be upset too,” Fred added. “Furious, actually.”

Nothing much was said at this point until finally Amelia came upstairs and unlocked the door to tell the children that dinner was ready.

-o-0-o-

**_ January 16, 1987… _ **

Two days later, Amelia Bones was sitting in her office waiting for Molly and Arthur Weasley. She’d wanted to give the Weasley parents some time to deal with the realization of Peter Pettigrew’s presence in their home and exactly what he’d been up to with their son.

She knew that there was a chance that Sirius was getting worried the longer the investigation took, but Amelia and Millicent agreed that every single base needed to be covered before Sirius was cleared and pardoned.

Besides, it’s not like he wasn’t comfortable. He was living in a mansion for crying out loud. Okay, the décor was a bit too gothic for Amelia’s tastes and even downright strange in some cases. But she doubted it bothered Sirius all that much, as the Blacks were well-known for their darker tastes in décor.

Their London townhouse on Grimmauld Place had mostly dark woods and black and silver wallpaper, with the occasional splashes of color in the form of purples, blues, greens, and reds that were so dark they were almost black. And then there were the house-elf heads.

The main family estate, Arlington Grange, where Lord and Lady Black lived was almost worse than the Addams Mansion… although Amelia had a feeling that the Addamses would actually like it. The dark woods and use of dark colors continued and there were no house-elf heads, thankfully. Although, the murals depicting images of people being impaled on sharpened stakes, their entrails removed, or having boiling oil dumped over their heads was not a look that appealed to Amelia.

The one time she’d actually visited Arlington Grange, as a child, she’d ended up having nightmares for a week. She’d avoided the Black’s ancestral mansion ever since.

Dark décor or not, Sirius was certainly in a better place now than Azkaban Prison, which Amelia hadn’t even realized until recently was actually owned by the Addams family and leased to the British Ministry. That particular deal had been made by Minister for Magic Damocles Rowle in 1718, after all, and had a surprisingly long-term lease period of 666 years.

Thus, by the mid-1900s most people at the Ministry had either forgotten or never knew that Azkaban was a leased property, which is why Amelia had no idea, as nobody had ever told her. Going over the lease agreement with a fine-tooth comb, she did note the clause buried in the fine print which allowed members of the Addams clan to visit whenever they wanted and without giving any notice.

She had a sneaking suspicion given where Sirius was now living that the Addamses had broken him out of prison. She also had a feeling that they may well have been responsible for the sudden deaths of Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan Lestrange, Antonin Dolohov, Zoltan Travers, and Augustus Rookwood.

Considering the long list of reprehensible actions that had seen them convicted and sentenced to Azkaban in the first place, however, Amelia decided that there was no need to try and bring charges against the Addamses. That would be difficult since they lived in America and thus were under MACUSA’s jurisdiction, with whom the Ministry had no extradition treaty.

Besides, she didn’t actually have any proof after all and she’d always believed that those six Death Eaters—murderers, rapists, and child sex traffickers all—had gotten off too easily with their life sentences in Azkaban.

While Amelia did try to not let her personal feelings affect her job, even she had to admit that she might be a bit biased when it came to the guilt of those particular Death Eaters, since they’d all taken part in the raid along with Voldemort that had seen Amelia’s parents, her brother Edgar, his wife, and their six children, and Susan’s parents murdered.

It had been Voldemort who personally killed most of them, although he’d apparently allowed his Death Eaters to play with them first, as evidenced by the fact that many of them had been tortured and raped before they were murdered. There was even some evidence to suggest that some of them had been violated after they died.

As one final indignity that still made Amelia’s blood boil to this day, the Aurors who responded to the Dark Mark hovering over the house reported finding the victims stripped naked. They’d also been rather obviously posed to make it look like they’d been engaging in a massive incestuous orgy when they died.

Anyone who knew the Bones family could immediately dismiss it as utter nonsense. Although the Death Eaters who’d done it had quietly spread rumors, leaving out that they’d staged it. Thus, to this day, there were still whispered rumors of rampant incest within House Bones… although nobody was stupid enough to whisper about it in earshot of Amelia, who was likely to hex them into the middle of the next century.

Needless to say, Amelia wasn’t going to lose any sleep over the deaths of the Death Eaters involved, as a small vicious corner of her mind that she kept tightly in check most of the time, believed that they got what was coming to them.

Shawn arrived moments before Arthur and Molly. Once everyone was seated, had a cup of tea, and the Weasleys had once again thanked Shawn for his pro bono offer of help for Percy, Amelia cleared her throat.

“As I said at your house two nights ago, I wasn’t expecting to find Peter. There was another reason, other than simply a social visit, that I arranged the get-together with the particular guests that I did. I didn’t bring it up, however, as I felt that the night’s revelations were enough and that it wouldn’t be right to pile on.”

“Oh dear,” Arthur said. “That sounds ominous.”

Molly nodded, but remained quiet, the worry clear on her brow.

“As you already know, Heir Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban,” Amelia said, as Arthur and Molly nodded. “I thank you for your discretion on that, by the way, as I’m aware that it would likely cause a public panic if it got out, but the more investigating that we do, it’s becoming clear that Sirius isn’t guilty of any of the crimes he was accused of.”

“I take it he’ll be pardoned then?” Arthur asked.

“Most likely yes,” Amelia said. “I believe Millicent is already working with the Ministry solicitors to draw up a pardon agreement that includes a sufficient enough compensation for his time spent in Azkaban that Lord and Lady Black will be appeased. We’ll likely end up paying through our nose, but it’ll serve as a lesson to us to not repeat such a grievous mistake in the future.”

“So, what was the reason you came over?” Molly asked.

“This is going to be hard for you, Molly,” Amelia said gently. “Especially since the memory of it has been blocked with Obliviation. I suggest you brace yourself.”

Molly looked curious but also worried, as she took a deep breath and then nodded for Amelia to continue.

“It would seem that you’re the one who cast the Fidelius Charm for James and Lily Potter,” Amelia said. “I don’t know how exactly it came about, but I was hoping that you’d allow Shawn to see if he can recover your memory of it and see if he can find out who Obliviated you.”

Molly was wide-eyed, but nodded her head, as she turned to Shawn and said, “You have my permission.”

Shawn nodded as he reached out and entered Molly’s mind, noting immediately that she did actually have proper Occlumency shields. That wasn’t all that surprising, however, considering that she was a Prewett by birth. While not noble, they were still one of the vaunted Sacred Twenty-Eight.

As Shawn had married into one of those families, he knew that it was very unlikely that any of them would allow a member of their house to venture out into the world without proper protection. Of course, having married into one of the Twenty-Eight, Shawn also knew that number should actually be higher, as there were several families that the author of the Pureblood Directory had left out.

Thanks to his natural, prodigy-level ability with Legilimency and the fact that Molly had given him permission, Shawn easily slid past her various protections and entered her inner mind. He steadfastly ignored all of her memories and thoughts, as he looked specifically for evidence of the Obliviation.

After a few minutes, he found it, and working his way around the block, he found the information that he was looking for.

Leaving Molly’s mind a few minutes later, Shawn said, “Unfortunately, there’s no trace of a magical signature. Not that I was expecting to find one, as it’s been nearly seven years now. Even if the caster had made no attempt to hide their signature, it would have naturally dissipated long before now.”

“Was there any memory of it being cast?” Arthur asked.

Shaking his head, Shawn said, “No, unfortunately, there wasn’t. I was able to view the memories through Molly’s eyes and there was no memory of someone Obliviating her. Which likely means that the person who did it either rendered her unconscious first or cast the spell non-verbally and behind her back.”

“Was that the only thing that was blocked?” Molly asked.

“No, there was one other interesting memory,” Shawn said. Looking over at Amelia, he added, “It would seem that it was James Potter who asked Molly to cast the Fidelius Charm, at the Chief Warlock’s suggestion.”

“Albus Dumbledore?” Amelia asked.

Shawn nodded. “Yes. I have no idea why he’d suggest Molly perform the Fidelius when he just as easily could have done it himself. But, there’s no evidence linking the suggestion to the Obliviation. It looks like whoever Obliviated Molly simply blocked all of her memories that in any way related to the Potter’s Fidelius Charm.”

“Which means it could have been Albus,” Amelia said, with a frustrated sigh. “But it just as easily could have been James or Lily, or anyone else that Peter told the secret to after it was cast. I’m inclined to believe that it wasn’t Peter himself who cast the Obliviation since he was Obliviated to forget that he was the Potter’s Secret Keeper.”

“Is there any indication of how long after the Fidelius was cast that Molly was Obliviated?” Arthur asked as he squeezed his wife’s hand.

Shaking his head, Shawn said, “No, there isn’t. Most memories don’t contain specific dates and times of when they occurred. Thinking back on a memory, you can sometimes remember when it happened, or at least have some vague idea of it. But as it is there’s no indication of whether the Obliviation was cast five minutes later or five years later.”

“I’d assume that it must have been cast before James and Lily died,” Molly said. “Because I’m certain that if I remembered that Pettigrew was the Secret Keeper, I would have come forward when Sirius Black was said to have been the Secret Keeper.”

After a moment of silence, Shawn asked, “Do you want me to remove the Obliviation block?”

Molly was quiet for a moment before she nodded. “Yes.”

“Very well,” Shawn said, as he re-entered Molly’s mind.

-o-0-o-

Later that day, after regular office hours, Molly, Arthur, and Percy portkeyed into Healer Miranda Shacklebolt’s private examination room at St. Mungo’s Hospital.

Since his memories of the molestation had been blocked by Shawn until he and Annabelle could begin working with him, Percy was asleep in Arthur’s arms. Molly had slipped him a mild sedative in a cup of hot chocolate to knock him out.

She didn’t like doing so, but it was easier than trying to explain why they were taking him for a physical when he’d just had one three months ago. Not to mention why the physical was with Miranda Shacklebolt at St. Mungo’s Hospital, instead of the Weasley’s normal healer, who worked out of the local free clinic in Ottery St. Catchpole.

As Arthur laid Percy down on the examination table, Molly said, “Thank you for doing this, Miranda.”

“It’s my pleasure,” Miranda said as she pulled out her wand. “Now let’s make sure that there’s no physical damage, shall we?”

Arthur and Molly nodded and took a seat on a sofa along one wall where they could watch as Miranda began casting several charms over their son’s sleeping body.

Several tense moments later, Miranda stopped and sat down at a desk next to the sofa. Turning to the elder Weasleys, she said, “I’m pleased to report that there was no permanent damage. It would seem that while Peter did repeatedly rape your son, he must have used the spell which is specifically designed for anal penetration, that not only lubricates but also magically coaxes the sphincter to relax and accept the penetration.”

Arthur and Molly nodded. While they’d never had any use for the spell, they both knew that the spell also magically expanded the size of the arsehole so that the penetrator could enter the one being penetrated with very little pain.

“I also detected the trace usage of potions that would further numb the anus, making it very unlikely that Percy would have felt anything,” Miranda said. “There was also trace residue of a powerful sleeping potion—not the mild one that I gave you to put in Percy’s hot chocolate to bring him here—which would guarantee that he would not wake up, even if a herd of rampaging hippogriffs suddenly appeared in his bedroom.”

“Is there any long-term side effects to that sleeping potion?” Molly asked.

“It can be addictive if used too frequently over too long a time,” Miranda answered. “Although, it would need to be used almost daily for over a year for an addiction to take hold. There’s no indication that that was the case here.”

Taking a deep breath, Miranda then said, “There is, however, one pressing issue which is going to be difficult for Percy to deal with.”

“What’s that?” Arthur asked.

“As you know, he started puberty shortly after his tenth birthday,” Miranda said, prompting Arthur and Molly to nod before she continued. “Once a wizard starts puberty, pregnancy becomes a possibility.”

Molly’s eyes widened as she asked, “You mean?”

Miranda nodded. “Yes. Percy is two weeks pregnant with twins. Although at his age, I’m afraid there’s no possible way that he’ll be able to carry to term. His body, while capable of being impregnated, just hasn’t matured enough that carrying to term is a possibility. So, he’ll very likely miscarry sometime midway through the second trimester.”

“By which point he’d no doubt have become aware of the pregnancy,” Arthur said.

“Yes, of that there can be no doubt,” Miranda said. “Miscarriages can be extremely hard emotionally on the parent who experiences them, even if the pregnancy was an unwanted one. Considering that he was in a potion-induced deep sleep—one that actually requires an antidote to reverse—during the rapes, however, it’s likely that he has no memory of being raped. And Shawn blocked the memories of the molestation temporarily.”

“So he’ll undoubtedly be very confused when he realizes that he’s pregnant,” Molly said, with a sad shake of her head. “And not knowing that the pregnancy is the result of a rape, it’s possible he might even come to care about the twins and thus be devastated when he miscarries them.”

“Yes,” Miranda said. She paused for a moment, before she said, “Of course, there is a way to spare him that pain. Well, two, actually.”

Arthur sucked in a breath, before he asked, “You mean terminate the pregnancy?”

Miranda nodded. “Yes, that is one possibility. If the pregnancy was magically terminated now, before he even realizes that he’s pregnant, he could be spared the emotional trauma of a miscarriage. Although there are risks involved, as magical abortions can sometimes result in temporary, and far more rarely, permanent sterilization. In the latter case, he’d never be able to carry or sire children. Although I should stress that is very rare… as it happens in only like one percent of magical abortions.”

Pausing, Miranda said, “There’s also the possibility that if he finds out about the abortion later, that he could be extremely angry with the both of you for making that kind of decision without his input. And that in his anger, he won’t be able to process the fact that it would have been impossible for him to carry to term, so the babies would have died anyway.”

“You said there were two possibilities,” Molly said. “What’s the second?”

“Transference,” Miranda said. “Since Percy is only two weeks pregnant and thus still very early in the first trimester, it is possible to magically transfer the fetuses out of him and into the womb of another who would be capable of carrying the twins to term. That can only be done during the first trimester and the earlier it’s done the better.”

Molly shared a look with Arthur at this, before she turned to Miranda and asked, “Can I do it? I’ve successfully carried seven children to term, including a set of twins.”

Miranda tapped her chin, as she asked, “You’re thirty-seven, correct?”

Molly nodded. “Yes, I’ll be thirty-eight on 30 October of this year.”

“Well, then you’re still capable of safely carrying children,” Miranda said. “If you were a muggle, thirty-eight would be nearing dangerous territory, as pregnancies in the late thirties and early forties are considered higher risk. But, as a witch, you can safely carry into your fifties and sixties without any issue. Possibly even longer, depending on your power level.”

Miranda paused and said, “It’s important that you understand, Molly, that if you do this, the twins would still biologically belong to Percy and Peter. They’d be your grandchildren, not children. Although once they’re born, you and Arthur could blood-adopt them and make them your children. I would suggest, however, that you don’t do that and give Percy the option, after he’s had time to work with Shawn and Annabelle, to make the decision for himself on whether he wants to be a father to his children or not.”

“And what about Peter?” Arthur said. “I really don’t care about that piece of filth, but would he have any claim on the children?”

Shaking her head, Miranda said, “No, he wouldn’t. It’s a rather obscure law, so I’m not surprised you don’t know about it, but I’ve dealt with rape cases before. There’s a law on the books which completely strips all parental rights from a parent found guilty of rape. So Peter would have no legal right to custody or visitation or the ability to make any decisions where the twins are concerned.”

Arthur and Molly stood up and moved a few feet away as they discuss the matter before they came back and Molly said, “I’ll do it. I’ll carry Percy’s twins to term for him and once he’s able to deal with the truth, we’ll tell him and let him decide if he wants to be a father to them or not. If he chooses not to be, then Arthur and I will blood-adopt them as our own.”

“Very well,” Miranda said, as she nodded, stood, and waved her wand to magically widen the examination table. “Lie down on the table and unbutton your blouse to expose your abdomen.”

As Molly did this, Arthur asked, “You said it was twins… do you know what they are?”

Shaking her head, Miranda said, “No it’s too early to determine gender at the moment. It’ll be another three to four weeks before that’s possible.”

“I will have to call my nurse in to assist me,” Miranda said, “although you can trust that she’ll be discrete. She’s been my loyal employee for nearly twenty years now… and she’s my mother’s brother’s daughter.”

“That’s fine,” Molly said, as Miranda nodded and called in her nurse, quickly introduced her, and they then got to work.

-o-0-o-

To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there’s Ch7 of ‘The Brothers Addams’. I know that Neville, Harrick, and the Addamses didn’t appear in this chapter at all, but they will in the next one, as I think it’ll finally be time for Sirius’s name to be cleared and receive a full pardon.
> 
> Of course, I’m not sure when the next chapter will be out, as I’ve also been working on a new chapter of my Harry Potter/A Song of Ice and Fire crossover ‘The Prophecy of the Seven’ as of late, in addition to a one-shot story related to it that will be the first of two that will set things up to add characters from The Chronicles of Narnia and Merlin to the main story.


End file.
